The Donkin Reserve: A Self-Guided Audio Tour in Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth owes its existence to one major historical event: a decision by Britain’s House of Commons on 12 July 1819 to approve the expenditure of £50,000 on the Cape Emigration Scheme. This self-guided audio tour is about that emigration scheme and the establishment of a port and a community, who created a town with strong cultural links to the land of their birth. I’ll be showing you some of the more remarkable buildings and monuments that have sprung up over the past two centuries.

Along the way, you’ll see historic stone churches and a 52-metre-high tower, the Campanile, built to mark the 100th anniversary of the settlers’ arrival. You’ll see a stately City Hall built alongside a market square where for almost 100 years ox-wagons would congregate to sell ivory, animal hides and wool. You’ll see elaborate architectural gems, including a library whose terra cotta façade was manufactured in Britain and shipped out to Port Elizabeth.