The Voortrekker Museum

(Church of the Vow) – Church Street – When the Voortrekkers entered Natal from the Orange Free State in the beginning of 1837, they suffered dreadful disasters at the hand of the Zulu. Piet Retief and his followers were murdered at uMgungundlovu.  Potgieter was defeated at eTaleni where Piet Uys was killed.   Determined to put and end to this state of affairs the voortrekkers advanced against the Zulu in December 1838.

From a military point of view the advance was perfectly ‘Planned and organised.   Steeped as they were in the Christian religion, the Voortrekkers  believed that their success  depended above all on the will of God.  At the instigation of Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers the commando took a solemn vow that if they were victorious, they would observe the day of the victory as a Sabbath and day of thanksgiving.  After their victory on 16 December 1838, the Voortrekkers honoured this and decided that the Church of their Vow should be built in  Pietermaritzburg, as it had become the capital of the Republic of Natalia.

The  Church  of  the  Vow  gradually  became  too  small  and  in   1861  a  new  church  was inaugurated.  The old church was let as a school, blacksmith’s shop, mineral water factory, and chemist’s shop and as a tea- room.  It was decided to restore the building and use it as a museum. Graceful Cape-Dutch gables replaced the original simple ones and eventually a  front  porch  was  added.  This  remarkable  little  building  houses  a   unique  collection  of Voortrekker relics.

The Pulpit of the Church of the Vow

The Church of the Vow has a fine pulpit that was made from various local timbers and which has been in use since 1840. When the present memorial church was built, the old pulpit was transferred to its original home and it is one of the museum’s most important exhibits.

The Drakensberg

The Drakensberg

Geology The Drakensberg Mountains had their onqm some 200 million years. ago when a vast landmass...

Piet Retief’s Grave

Piet Retief’s Grave

The treaty under which the Voortrekkers received land from Dingane was signed on 6 February 1838....

uMgungundlovu

uMgungundlovu

The  seat of power of Dingane from  1828 to 1839 is preserved as a  site museum. The iKhanda was...

R E Stevenson Museum

R E Stevenson Museum

The R E  Stevenson Museum was established in 1974, and is devoted to the history of the town and...

Old Parsonage Museum

Old Parsonage Museum

This charming sandstone building on the corner of Kerk and Loop Streets, in  Utrecht is now a...

Uys monument

Uys monument

Hlobane 20km east of Vryheid was the scene of a desperate struggle against the Zulu where Boer and...

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