Greyton Village Walk
On the Main Road as you come in to Greyton on your left is the Library and next to it, the Old Moravian Hall. A little further along you will find Fiore’, Greyton’s Garden Centre and next to it Little Bizarre, a gift shop, with the Genadendal hand weavers just behind it. As you continue along the Main Road, the double-story building on the left is home to the Old Potters Inn Bed & Breakfast and before that Ploom’s Pottery. This building was once the home of the Mays family and is one of the oldest buildings in the village. It is a National Heritage building. On the opposite side of the road are two well-known Greyton restaurants – the Abbey Rose and Peccadillos Bistro.
The Post House is on the corner of Main Road and Uitkyk Street. It too is a National Heritage building and was once a post office in Greyton. Turn right at that stop street and walk down Ds Botha Street past Railway House, which presently houses Catherine Paynter’s gallery. Jan de Villiers opened the first shop in his home here in the 1920s. Apie de Villiers traded in the building, which was to become the SAR&H depot under the ownership of Mr Weder Snr. Farmers and villagers would take their produce to the shop, and the Railways bus would collect it for the market.
Further along Ds Botha Street is a long, low building under the oaks – The Oak & Vigne Café. The very old portion of the building was once used as a school, until the school was moved over the road into the building that now houses the Theewaterskloof municipal offices. The adjacent Vanilla Café is in an upgraded old barn, believed to be used by the blacksmith in the days of horse and wagon.
At the intersection of Ds Botha and Oak Streets, look left. The recently restored, attractive double storey building facing you was once a school hostel. Adjacent to this is the David Kuijers art gallery. On the opposite side of the road, a new building houses the Greyton Village Grocer, the Post Office and Petrol station.
Turn right into Oak Street. A little way down the street on the right side, under oak trees, is a flat-roofed house (No.22). The present owner’s grandfather, old Mr Coxson, used to sit upstairs at his workbench in front of a window, repairing shoes. The family still has an old high chair, which he made out of soapboxes, as well as other interesting family heirlooms.
Turn right into Justice Street and at the end of the road you will see Die Gang (No. 8). This house used to be a row of labourers’ cottages, and has unique Genadendal-made window hinges. On the opposite corner is a low thatched cottage, Golden Pond (26 Vigne Lane), said to have been a cottage used by Herbert Vigne, founder of Greyton.
Turn right into Vigne Lane, where some of the original mud-brick houses of Greyton are still to be seen on the right hand side of the road.
Walk back up to Main Road. Looking up past The Post House you will see the Moravian Church (formerly the Dutch Reformed Church). Turn right into Main Road and into the modern-day village centre. Just past the Information Office, Via’s deli occupies the former trading store of H.E. Babst. (see the name on the façade) At the intersection of Main Road and High Street is the Village Business Centre. This was built back in 1925 as the Central Hotel Inn. Over the road you’ll find the A.G Osman & Sons building which is now home to the Saverite store. Mr Osman’s grandfather first came to Greyton in 1920. He traded across the road in what is today the Greyt Oak Centre before moving into the present premises in 1934.
Walk down High Street past Osman’s and St Andrew’s Anglican Church is ahead. The church was built in 1904 and also has Genadendal-made catches on the windows. The gravestones of Greyton’s founder, Herbert Vigne and his wife Elizabeth (nee Belshaw), have recently been relocated from a neglected cemetery in Caledon to the grounds of St Andrew’s Church. A plaque on the low wall gives relevant information.
Turn left into Jones Street. The buildings on your right are the old Anglican Church hall and manse. Turn left into Cross Market Street and right into Main Road. The stalls on the village square were erected by the Conservation Society, and a produce and craft market is held here every Saturday morning.
The Dutch Reformed Church on your left was built in 1964, and the building beyond the tennis courts is the DRC Hall.
At the intersection of Main Road and Grey Street is the Greyton Lodge. Part of this building, which became a hotel in 1985, dates back to 1882. At one time rooms 4, 5 and 6 were police cells.
Turn right into Grey Street, then left into Vlei Street. The open land beyond Vlei Street is part of Greyton’s commonage. Look for the recently restored communal ‘skaapkraal’ (sheep kraal) with explanatory plaque.
Turn right just before Regent Street and walk down to Greyton’s picnic spot on the Gobos River.
Return up Regent Street and turn left into Main Road. On the corner of Kloof Street and Main Road is The Lord Pickleby, a B&B that was the original Belshaw family home (daughter Elizabeth married Herbert Vigne).