Kestell is a small maize farming town situated along the N5 National Route and R57 Provincial Route in the Free State province of South Africa.
Overview
| Country: | South Africa |
| Province: | Free State |
| District: | Thabo Mofutsanyana |
| Municipality: | Maluti-A-Phofung |
| Established: | 1905 |
| Named After: | Reverend Dr. John Daniel Kestell |
| Total Area: | 12.6 km² (4.9 sq mi) |
| Population: | 8,269 (2011) |
| Population Density: | 656/km² (1,700/sq mi) |
| Time Zone: | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal Code (street): | 9860 |
| Area Code: | 058 |
About Kestell
Kestell is located along the N5 road that links Harrismith with Bethlehem, approximately 47.5 km west of Harrismith and 48.3 km south-east of Bethlehem.
The town is situated 20 km (12 miles) southeast from the Battle of Groenkop-site of the Second Boer War. The battle took place on 25 December 1901 when General Christiaan De Wet’s Boer troops defeated a British column.
The township was surveyed and laid out by William Homan in 1905 on the farms Driekuil and Mooifontein, acquired from Adriaan and Johannes Bezuidenhout.
The town was named after its founder, Reverend Dr. John Daniel Kestell (1854 – 1941), an Anglo-Afrikaner minister of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1894 to 1903, author and cultural leader, who played an important role in the Anglo-Boer War and later helped with the Bible translations into Afrikaans.
In 1906, Kestell became a municipality.
The Dutch Reformed Church building in Kestell, designed by famed architect of the Voortrekker Monument and dozens of churches, Gerard Moerdijk, was inaugurated on 31 March 1928.
This eccentric town serves as an important maize producer. Situated in the heart of the Highlands, Kestell has beautiful open skies and an array of awe-inspiring views. It has a total population of about 8,269 residents of which the majority speaks Afrikaans.
