Sutherland trip xiv - Silent night

Posted by dobbino (Cape Town, South Africa) on 6 August 2009 in Architecture.

The most dominant building in the town centre of Sutherland is the Dutch Reformed Church (The SALT Observatory is about 18 kilometres from the town itself). The church steeple can be seen from miles away when one approaches Sutherland. The church was completed in 1901.

It was designed by Charles Freeman, who also designed the Dutch Reformed church of Graaff-Reinet and the Standard Bank in Cape Town. During the Anglo-Boer War, the church was invaded for 8 months by the British troops. Filled to capacity, it can seat 1200 people.

This photo was taken on our last evening spent in the town, at about half past eight. We were on our way back to the hotel after having a super meal at what is probably Sutherland's only fine dining restaurant, called Cluster d' Hote. I went off to fetch my camera, and then returned to get this shot.

It was very cold (well - cold for us - somewhere around minus 2 degrees Celcius) and I really didn't feel like going to the car to get my tripod. So this was taken hand held, but I had to push the ISO to 1600. However, I was quite pleased with the end result.

All comments, and especially constructive criticism is truly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time.

All images © Rob Minter, and licensed in terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 South Africa License

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