NG Kerk Pastorie (Parsonage) - Malmesbury

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Built: 1751-1771

Status: Demolished

Unidentified photographer.¹

Timeline

In August 1752, after the dedication and commissioning of the completed church building, the Church Council, under the strong leadership of Rev. Voltelen, decided to make an active start on building the parsonage. The marriage of Rev. Voltelen to a young Cape lady and the arrival of the first minister's wife to settle in the new congregation on the Zwartland church grounds probably also hastened the decision to build a proper parsonage. However, the Voltelen couple did not have the privilege of being the first occupants of the elegant and comfortable new parsonage.

The parsonage on the church grounds of the Zwartland congregation, the design and construction of which had already received urgent attention from the minister and his church council during the time of Rev. Voltelen, was ultimately only completed in December 1771. In 1788, the elegant and comfortable minister's residence was further embellished with the addition of the vaderlandsche stappen (traditional Dutch gabled steps) to the front of the building.

"Plan van de Kerk te Zwartland" J.W. Wernich's c.1800 map of the church site where the church building and parsonage of the Zwartland (Malmesbury) congregation were established. Indicated on it are: The location of the church building (middle), the parsonage with its garden and fields (middle left), the church erfs, new erfs to be offered for sale, the "Diepe Rivier" (Deep River), and the "Groote Weg" (Great Way).³

In 1820, the parsonage was renovated at a cost of 10,000 rixdollars. By the end of the eighteenth century, it was considered one of the most beautiful buildings on the church square of the Zwartland congregation, and with its surrounding garden, vineyard, and wheat fields, it made a very fine impression on visitors in the spring and summer. The traveller, John Barrow, described the parsonage as a "very neat and comfortable parsonage house." Prof. A. Moorrees was one of a number of well-known figures born in the Zwartland (Malmesbury) parsonage over the years.²

In 1774 Ds. Daniël Goldbach and his family moved into the parsonage - he served Malmesbury from 1774-1783.¹

In relation to the first church, the parsonage stood on the opposite bank of a small stream, adjacent to gardens, arable land, and a hot spring (the site of the current De Bron Shopping Centre. The hot spring baths were demolished in the 1960s.

Sources
  1. Rex, H.M. (1975) Hervormde Predikantsvroue in Suid-Afrika vanaf 1652. Die Hervormer, May 1975.
  2. Rex, H.M. (1974) Hervormde Predikantsvroue in Suid-Afrika vanaf 1652. Die Hervormer, May 1974.
  3. Rex, H.M. (1974) Hervormde Predikantsvroue in Suid-Afrika vanaf 1652. Die Hervormer, Jan 1975.
  4. Murphy, C. (2019) Some Reminisces of Malmesbury. The Heritage Portal.

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