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Old Racecourse
Bontebok National Park, Swellendam district, Western Cape

Date:n.d.
Type:Sports Club
Status:Derelict

 


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Coordinates:
34°03'28.80" S 34°03'28.80" E Alt: 111m

Transcript of information board.

OLD RACECOURSE

During the years between 1848 and 1904 many successful gathering were held on this racecourse through the Swellendam Horse Club.

Old Racecourse as so named as this area was used by the Swellendam Turf Club for their race meetings. It was said that these races were so popular that on occasion the S.S Kadie, a steam ship, was chartered to transport the race goers from Cape Town to Swellendam. Jockeys were drawn from the now servile Hessequa and so dangerous was the track, that many were killed.

Archaeologists had found a fairly informal wagon track which consisted of only 2 wheel ruts running across the landscape with the rocks amd boulders being moved to the side as necessary.

The tracks run south-easterly over the hilltop, eastwards down the slope and southwards over the Paleoterrace of the Breede River.

Few artifacts were found associated with the track but the base of a glass bottle embossed with the date "1943" suggests that the track was still in use in the Mid 20th Century. The bottle was found near the base of the slope.