About Bredasdorp

Bredasdorp lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about 160 kilometres (100 mi) south-east of Cape Town and 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.

Tourist attractions of Bredasdorp include the Heuningberg Nature Reserve, many historical churches, and art galleries and craft shops. Bredasdorp is also home to the Shipwreck Museum which tells the stories of the 150 wrecks along the nearby Agulhas Reef. It is the only museum of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Surrounding towns in the Overberg District

Arniston (Waenhuiskrans), 24 km

L'Agulhas, 34 km (Southernmost town in Africa)

Napier, 14 km

Caledon, 74 km

Swellendam, 69 km

Struisbaai, 28 km

History

The town of Bredasdorp was founded with the building of a Dutch Reformed Church in 1838 on the farm Langefontein. The town was named after Michiel van Breda, the first Mayor of Cape Town, who was also known as the father of South Africa's merino sheep industry. 

Van Breda and Pieter Voltelyn van der Byl could not agree on a location for the church; as a result two churches were built, and two towns, Bredasdorp and Napier, were established.

Economy

Besides the sheep farming, the town also boasts other agricultural activities, including wheat, canola, milk, and indigenous fynbos cultivation. The town is also the location of the offices of Kapula Candles, an international candle company that exports hand-painted candles to Europe and the United States. 

The population of the town got a boost during the middle 1980s with the establishment of both the South African Air Force's Air Force Base Overberg which is home to the Test Flight and Development Centre as well as the Denel Overberg Test Range near the small coastal village of Arniston.