Fort Beaufort

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Fort Beaufort is situated in the Amathole Region of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, and has a population of 78,300. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883.

Fort Beaufort lies at the confluence of the Kat and Brak rivers between the Keiskamma and Great Fish rivers. Originally a military garrison, Fort Beaufort boasts many fine buildings dating back to the Frontier wars, including the Martello Tower, a circular fort of the kind usually erected as part of a coastal defence system.

The old Victorian barracks is probably the finest to be found anywhere outside the United Kingdom. During the War of MIanjeni, the town was attacked and nearly overrun by anti-colonial forces led by Hermanus Matroos. Fort Beaufort started out as a mission station that the Reverend Joseph Williams of the London Missionary Society established in 1816. In 1822, Colonel Maurice Scott of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment constructed a blockhouse about three miles from the mission station as a military frontier post and stronghold against raids by the Xhosa under their chief, Maqoma.

The British named it Fort Beaufort to honour the Duke of Beaufort, father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset, first British governor of the Cape Colony (1814 to 1826) Fort Beaufort is an excellent base from which to explore the fascinating Kat River Valley and the surrounding Katberg and Amatola Mountains which saw some of the heaviest fighting anywhere in South Africa.

Accommodation includes B&B's, guesthouses, Self Catering and camping.