Springfontein (E 12)

Name:Springfontein


Springfontein, a village in the Free State, South Africa. Routes: N1, R715.

Springfontein was laid out in 1904 on the farm Springfontein. It became a municipality in 1912.

Springfontein is an important railway junction. The lines from Port Elizabeth to East London and to Gauteng converge here, while another line runs west to the diamond-producing town of Koffiefontein via Jagersfontein and Fauresmith.
The town derives its name from the strong artesian spring on the farm Springfontein. Part of this farm was chosen as the site for the new village in 1904. Municipal status was granted in 1912.

Springfontein is situated 150 km southwest of Bloemfontein on the N1. This town's history relates directly to the struggle and especially the hardships of the Anglo-Boer war.

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The hospital arrived in Cape Town on 3 May 1900. From this date until 20 May, the personnel were occupied with the removal of the hospital to Springfontein, an important railway junction in the southern Free State. At this time, Bloemfontein was in the grip of a great typhoid epidemic, which was decimating the British troops stationed there. The surgeons and dressers received orders to assist in the military hospitals in Bloemfontein. The hospital staff were not immune. One of the dressers, T R Eames, contracted dysentery and died on 27 May 1900. 'We were considerably depressed by the death of Mr Eames, and we were glad to leave Bloemfontein for the Welsh Hospital at Springfontein, where we were installed on May 31st.' (British Medical Journal, p 253).

The hospital was situated on sloping ground 1 520 metres above sea level, about half a mile (800 metres) east of Springfontein Station. The frontage was due west, with an extensive view of undulating veld and the distant kopjes. Our left flank is protected by a series of low kopjes, on which are mounted some 4,7-inch guns, and to our rear are several other kopjes surrounded by carefully laid mines (British Medical journal, p253 The writer could not find any corroborating statements to support the assertion that artillery pieces and mines were at Springfontein.)


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