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Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk
Central Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng

CLARIDGE and SIMMONDS: Architect

Date:1883-1885
Type:Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk - Church
Status:Demolished c1905
Street:Church Square

Also called the 'Toringkerk' (Tower church).

Standing in the middle of the Church Square, the Dutch Reformed Church is the most noticeable edifice after the Raadzaal. Built on the site of a predecessor destroyed by fire, it was for years the distinctive feature of Pretoria. Its position in the centre fittingly testifies the honour paid by the "landsvaders" to their national Church, round which they have assembled, season after season, for the "nachtmaal" service.

Ref: Photographs of South Africa Comprising Representative Views etc, The South African Photo-Publishing Company, Cape Town, 1894: Pg 147.

(Submitted by William MARTINSON, December 2010)

The builder was Charles Clark - "one of my tame Englishmen", as President Kruger called him.

This church replaced an earlier one that was razed by fire in 1882.

The building was demolished in the early 1900s because it was declared structurally unsafe.


Books that reference Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk

Bakker, Karel A, Clarke, Nicholas J & Fisher, Roger C. 2014. Eclectic ZA Wilhelmiens : A shared Dutch built heritage in South Africa. Pretoria: Visual Books. pg 68
Kesting, DP. 1978. Afrikaans Protestantse kerkbou : erfenis en uitdaging. Port Elizabeth: Unpublished PhD. pg 805
Maeder, GA & Zinn, C. 1917. Ons kerk album van Hollandsche kerken en leeraren. Capetown: Cape Times. pg 208-211
Picton-Seymour, Désirée. 1989. Historical Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: Struikhof Publishers. pg 164