Hogsback is a mountain retreat in the Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, situated along the R345 Regional Route that runs from Fort Hare up to Cathcart.
Hogsback falls within the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality and the Amathole District Municipality.
Hogsback is located approximately 35 km north-east of Dikeni (formerly Alice). Overall, it is in the central-southern part of South Africa, in the centre of the Eastern Cape Province, and is roughly halfway between the town of Alice (renamed Dikeni) and the village of Cathcart.
Nearby towns include Seymour to the west and Dikeni to the south, Whittlesea, Cathcart, and the Waterdown Dam to the north, and Keiskammahoek to the east. However, travel east and west of the town is rare because there is little infrastructure and ridges/mountains on these sides.
It is alleged that Hogsback village was named after Captain Hogg, Commander of Fort Michell. However, it is also alleged that Hogsback is named after one of the three peaks that overlook the village. This is because when seen from a certain angle, this particular peak resembles a Hog’s Back (A hogback is the geological term describing this particular rock formation).
History
The earliest known written reference to ‘Hogsback’ was found in the journal of the painter Thomas Baines, who passed the ‘Hogs Back’ while on his travels deeper inside South Africa in 1848. Besides the ‘Hogsback’, the highest peak in the area is the 1,954 m Gaika’s Kop.
The nearby Xhosa tribes called the surrounding area Qabimbola (meaning ‘red clay on the face’) as the surrounding clay was used for face painting. Gaika’s Kop was one of the Xhosa strongholds. British troops were later stationed here, and several forts were built to guard the border with the Xhosa. One of these forts was Fort Michell, named after Colonel Michell of the Warwickshire regiment, who was at one point in charge of troops in the area. The name has since changed to Fort Mitchell. The outline of Fort Michell and the first road from Fort Hare can still be seen.
The conflict between the British and Xhosa continued further north, and a small settlement began to grow. Some of the first inhabitants of Hogsback were Summerton, Odendaal, and Booysens. Thomas Summerton, a gardener from Oxford, has a legacy that survives in the local gardens and his attempts to re-create the English countryside. This can be seen in apple orchards, avenues lined with hazelnut trees, berry fruits, and the flowering plants that have spread throughout the surrounding area. European flowers, bushes, and trees include rhododendrons, azaleas, fruits, and berries. He named his farm Cherrie Orchard and also built a furrow – Summerton’s furrow – to carry water from a stream on Tor Doone.
In the 1880s, Collins built a small hotel, called the Hogsback Hydro, which later became the Hogsback Inn. Hunterstoun, the private estate of David Hunter, was built in 1910. Hunter was the honorary secretary and treasurer of the Lovedale Institution and the Victoria College near Alice. Forestry began in 1883 with a survey to determine the best areas for planting. The Hogsback pass was opened in 1932. Hobbiton-on-Hogsback was started in 1946 as a holiday camp for children who could not afford to go on holidays, and with the aid of several organisations and private donations, had grown to an outdoor education facility for underprivileged children. There was also a shop, the Handy Log Cabin, situated in the grounds of Arminel.
At the turn of the century, local farmers and townsfolk started to build holiday homes here, and its charms became more widely known. The cottages were mostly of wattle and daub with thatched roofs. A rule was also made in regard to the size of the plots, namely that each one had to be at least two morgen.
