Bathurst, Eastern Cape

Bathurst is about 12 kilometres inland from Port Alfred, on the road to Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape province. Its chief claim to fame is that it was the administrative centre for the 1820 British Settlers who were established in the district as a buffer between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa pastoralists who were migrating southwards and westwards along the coast.

Many of the original settler houses and other buildings have been preserved, and there remains much of the look and feel of an English village of the early 19th Century. The "Pig and Whistle", at the heart of the village, is reputedly the oldest existent pub in the country.

While time has moved slowly in Bathurst, there is an increasing population of artists, academics (Rhodes University is only 40 km away), and retirees who have chosen to live in this tranquil environment.