CP Nel Museum

The CP Nel Museum occupies the old Oudtshoorn Boys’ High School on Baron van Reede Street, a sandstone building with a clock tower designed by Charles Bullock in 1906. Its central theme is the ostrich, and in particular the feather boom that made this Little Karoo town rich in the decades before the First World War. If you want to understand why Oudtshoorn looks the way it does, start here.

What to expect

The museum opened in 1972, built around the collection Colonel CP Nel left to the public. Expect galleries on the ostrich feather trade alongside a reconstructed early 20th-century pharmacy and general dealer, porcelain, period clothing, musical instruments, weapons, carriages and old cars. The building itself is a declared national monument, with a school hall added in 1912.

The most unusual room is the synagogue, opened in 1973 as a reconstruction of an 1896 synagogue. It tells the story of Oudtshoorn’s Lithuanian Jewish community and their part in the feather industry, and it is still used for services from time to time.

The museum also runs the Le Roux Town House, a 1908 feather boom mansion that hosted guests including Cecil Rhodes and the Prince of Wales, as a satellite site.

Practical details

• Address: Baron van Reede Street, central Oudtshoorn.
• Opening hours were not confirmed from an official page when this was checked, so phone ahead, especially for Sundays and public holidays.
• Le Roux Town House is a separate building, so allow time to walk between the two.

Good to know

The feather boom peaked in 1913 and crashed in 1914. Pair the museum with a walk along Baron van Reede and High Streets, where many of the sandstone buildings from the boom years still stand. The Synagogue of 1888 and the Queen’s Hotel of 1880 are among the landmarks on the way.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Oudtshoorn Courant, Roxanne Reid, Africa Addict.