Aberdeen Church Traditional Cache

An easy roadside cache.  Bring a pen. Do yourself a favour and visit the Biblical panels in the Church hall. The clue give it away!

The Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) in Aberdeen , in the Eastern Cape, was constructed in two stages. The first stage of construction was completed in 1864, and the second was completed in 1908. The old church is said to have the highest steeple in South Africa, boasting a length of fifty meters. Perhaps due to hasty or unplanned construction, the building house a unique feature in the from of a leaning tower. The weight of the roof shingles has caused the tower to lean over the years-eighteen inches off perpendicular.

Another feature of the Aberdeen Dutch reformed church are the collection of biblical panels which are housed in the old building. The panels were crafted by a group of five local ladies, who had seen similar panels in a church in Calitzdorp. They told the local dominee in Aberdeen about the panels, and after a reconnaissance visit to Calitzdorp, he returned with the go-ahead to create their own panels. The detailed collages, which each measure about four square meters in size, are made partly from locally produced sheep's wool. Other materials for the project were donated by residents of Aberdeen.

Another highlight of the church is the massive old olive tree which was grown from a cutting taken from the Garden of Gethsemane, in the Holy Land. Affectionately known by Aberdeen locals as the Olive Tree, it stands in the church garden.