St Cyprian’s Church at Highlands is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.
St Cyprian’s Church at Highlands is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.
This picturesque stone church, situated in the Highlands hills some 30km from Grahamstown, was originally built as the engineer’s residence during construction of the Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown railway around 1878. After the line was completed it was restored as the church by local farmers and dedicated to Cyprian, the early African Bishop of Carthage, on 29 November 1893.
It is part of the Parish of Sidbury and has been the centre of rural life in the area ever since.
The founding of the church will be celebrated on 8 September 2013 with a Country Fair starting at 11.30am and following the Sunday morning with a St Cyprian’s Day service (10am-11am). Grahamstown Cathedral Dean, Andrew Hunter, will be preaching.
The fair will feature a range of activities and items for sale including pony rides, a treasure hunt, cup-cake-decorating, meeting Daisy the sheep, a tea garden, lunch tent, farm mutton, venison and biltong, home-made baked goods and preserves, country crafts, tanned Nguni hides and game skins, plants and herbs, a white elephant stall and books.
The road to Highlands has been recently resurfaced by the East Cape Roads Department and, as one of the spectacular scenic drives of the Eastern Cape, a trip to Highlands offers a great day out in the country for city folk.
