Claremont Tourism Information

Quick Facts: Claremont

• Vineyard Hotel & Spa
• Cavendish Square shopping mall
• Kenilworth Centre shopping mall
• Stadium-on-Main shopping centre
• Kenilworth Racecourse
• Claremont Tennis Club
• Rosmead Sports Ground
• Claremont Medical & Surgical Sanatorium
• Kingsbury Maternity Home
• Claremont Medical Centre
• Kingsbury Hospital

Distance to Airport: 17 km

Distance to City: 10 km

Introducing Claremont

Claremont is a residential suburb of Cape Town in South Africa.  Claremont is located six miles south of the city of Cape Town, and forms part of the 'Southern Suburbs'. It is an important commercial and residential area, which is currently experiencing significant growth and development.

Until the arrival of Dutch colonists in 1652, the Cape Peninsula was an untamed wilderness, where the nomadic Khoisan grazed their cattle. The Dutch established an outpost on the shore of Table Bay, and in 1657 they established a number of farms south of the outpost. The most southerly of those original farms, named Louwvliet and Questenburg, are today covered by Claremont and the adjoining suburb of Newlands.

This particular region of Cape Town, South Africa, was agricultural for about 150 years. Other estates that were established included Veldhuyzen in 1676, Stellenberg in 1697, Weltevreden (originally part of Stellenberg) in 1730, Sans Souci (originally part of Questenburg) in 1786, and The Vineyard in 1798. They produced grain and grapes, and some farmers made wine.

After the colony had been taken over by the British in 1814, the area gradually changed its character. British settlers and officials bought the farms, re-named some of them, and turned them into country residences. Weltevreden was subdivided in 1822, and a portion of it was renamed Claremont, a name later applied to the whole area.  The distinguished British astronomer Sir John Herschel put Claremont on the map by living at Feldhausen (formerly Veldhuyzen) from 1834 to 1838. A village began to develop, and by 1840 it had been named Claremont.

The village grew during the 1840s and 1850s, and the opening of a railway from Cape Town to Wynberg in 1864 spurred subdivision and development. In 1882, a village management board was formed, and in 1886 it was replaced by the Municipality of Claremont, which managed neighbouring Newlands too.  Claremont was a town in its own right until 1913 when, together with most of the Cape Peninsula municipalities, it was incorporated into the City of Cape Town.

It remained predominantly residential until the early 1970s, when commercial development began.  A major shopping mall, named Cavendish Square, was opened in 1973, and other shopping centres followed.  There was a further building boom in the 1990s, and the suburb is currently experiencing another, which includes the construction of three large apartment blocks, a hotel, two office blocks, the re-modeling of three other commercial buildings, and the construction of a transport interchange and a bypass road.

Claremont, is virtually synonymous with the trendy Cavendish Square Shopping Mall, which is in close proximity to the Vineyard Hotel & Spa, and quaint semi-detached cottages much sought after as ‘starter’ homes or for the young and single.  Claremont is located only a 20 minutes’ drive from the centre of Cape Town, either along Main Road or along the M3. It’s also easily accessible from the city of Cape Town by train.  The shopping malls - Cavendish Square and The Link - are vibrant hubs offering a wide range of shops including classy boutique-style shops.  This part of the upmarket Claremont has a cosmopolitan feel.