Montagu Museum



During a visit to the beautiful Klein Karoo town of Montagu I discovered two very interesting and equally historic museums on Long Street, the town's main drag.  The first one was the fascinating Joubert House while the second was the Montagu Museum.  The Montagu Museum is housed in the Neo-Gothic style Old Mission Church which was built in 1907 and its main aim is the research of the cultural-historic heritage of Montagu.

The museum has a large and diverse collection and frequently changes its temporary exhibitions.  It's collection of pulpit Bibles and church artifacts including old wedding dresses form the focal point of the church with the original pulpit, pulpit cloth and wall text taking pride of place. Other important permanent exhibitions are the Indigenous Medicinal Plant research project displayed in one wing, the Françoise Krige collection of paintings and memorabilia and the T.O. Honiball (he of Oom Kaspaas, Jakkals En Wolf and Adoons-Hulle fame) collection of cartoons.  The museum also has its own oval date stamp which is a replica of the first postmark to be used in Montagu in1858.

Behind the church is a magnificent rose garden which was beautifully in bloom on my visit while the archive which adjoins the church is an important research centre containing a comprehensive collection of historical documents and photos relating to Montagu, the district and people as well as the museum library.  Unfortunately my visits to both museums were done at a bit of a rush as I didn't really gave myself much time going there but we have already booked a return visit to Montagu for the end of the year and this time around I'm going to be spending a lot more time in the two museums.