Piketberg

Piketberg is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located about 50 miles east of Saldanha Bay. The original spelling of the name was "Piquetberg". The town is in the foothills of the Piketberg mountains, a range of low mountains formed from Table Mountain Sandstone.The area around the mountains is conducive to the farming of wheat, while the area on top of the mountains, being cooler and generally frost-free, is suited to the farming of fruit and Rooibos Tea.Piketberg possesses a large Dutch Reformed Church designed by the architect Carl Otto Hager in his trademark neo-Gothic style.The area was inhabited by the Khoikhoi and the San before the arrival of settlers of European extraction and there is still well-preserved San rock art in the mountains. There was once a small military post in the town to protect the livestock of farmers against depredations by the Khoikhoi.CannonThe Picquet commandos fired the cannon. The cannon-fire protected the European-descended farming community from the attacks of the indigenous groups, the "Gonjemans".The community used its cannon to signal the arrival of ships in Cape Town. Piketberg's farmers would load their carts with produce and wares. Then head to Cape Town to do business. The cannon also fired on special occasions like Queen Victoria's birthday and the arrival of the town's first telephone line. It fired for the last time in the 1960s. A misfire left the school's windows aflame. Hereafter, the canon was filled with cement. Until recently, the Piketberg cannon stood in front of Piketberg High School, aimed East, in the direction of Porterville High School, its rival.