Information Howick - Conference Venues Centres Howick, South Africa

Information on Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Conference Venues South Africa brings you information on Howick situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa including information on Facilities and Recreation, Climate, Founding, History Suburbs, Town Planning and Geography.

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Howick is located in the uMgungundlovu District of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. It is is 1050 m above sea level, and about 88 kilometres from the port city of Durban. Howick enjoys cool dry winters and warm summers. A crisp chill descends when snow falls on the nearby Drakensberg. Howick is located on the N3 freeway, connecting it with the rest of South Africa.

Howick Falls is a large waterfall that occurs when the Umgeni River falls 95 metres over dolerite cliffs on its way to the Indian Ocean. The waterfall was known as kwaNogqaza or The Place of the Tall One by the original Zulu inhabitants. There are several other waterfalls in the vicinity, and all of them have claimed human lives. Near Howick are Shelter Falls and Cascade Falls, while Karkloof Falls is to the east. There are also a number of schools in Howick.

Howick is a great place to find antiques, arts and crafts. The town was named after Earl Grey, the British Colonial Secretary who started out in life as the Viscount Howick. Howick remains essentially a farming town that supplies the number of farms in the area, and people pass through here on their way to the interior or to Midmar Dam, just 7 kilometres away.

History of Howick

During the 1840s travellers moving north from Pietermaritzburg crossed the Umgeni River just west of present day Howick at the Alleman's Drift. In 1849, the Wesleyan Missionary James Archbell bought three farms above the northern bank of the Umgeni River. Title deeds of the original plots simply named the area The Village on the Umgeni Waterfall. In 1850, the river crossing was moved to the dangerous but more convenient location at the top of the Falls. This was less than 200 metres from where the river plunged over the cliff's edge.

It was a dangerous spot, and many travellers and wagons were swept over the falls. With the increase in traffic to the north, the Government decided to establish a village at the crossing, and purchased part of James Archbell's farm. In November 1850, a proclamation appeared in the Natal Government Gazette, offering 36 village allotments on the Umgeni Waterfall Drift for sale. This marked the beginning of the town. In choosing a name for the new town, Government officials decided to honour their Secretary of State for the Colonies in London. He was Earl Grey and had recently acquired the title of Lord Howick.

The name derived from his ancestral home of Howick Hall in Northumberland, England. Two other towns were named Howick at the same time: one in New Zealand, and the other in Ontario, Canada. During the Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902, the British established a concentration camp on the outskirts of the village. A monument to the women and children who died during their incarceration in the camp marks the location. In December 1996 Nelson Mandela was awarded the Freedom of the Howick, where he was arrested years earlier.

Information on Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

History of Howick

Towns and Suburbs of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa