C.P.Nel Museum Unclaimed

Oudtshoorn, Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, South Africa, CP Nel Museum, Museum, History, Sandstone

In 1972 the C.P. Nel collection was brought to its present home, the C.P. Nel Museum (3 Baron van Rheede Street) - the former Oudtshoorn Boy's High School. As a result of this, the sandstone building, with its prominent clock tower, designed by Charles Bullock and erected in 1906, was saved from demolition. The building as a whole dates back to the so-called second "ostrich feather boom" (1900 - 1914) and was declared a National Monument in 1981. The Museum owes its origin to the private collection of colonel Charles Paul Leonard Nel, successful businessman and collector of antiquities.