 In 1837 twelve Voortrekker families settled on the banks of the Schoonspruit. The settlement derived its name from Mr. Barend le Clercq, one of the original settlers, who was regarded as the leader of the community or Landdrost.
Mr. J.P. Mazureik in circa 1905 -1906 commissioned the Klerksdorp Town Engineer/Architect Mr. H. Hancock to design a new residence on the old Voortrekker erf.
Some of the old structures were retained and still exists to this day. Our restaurant is housed in what is probably the oldest structure in Oudorp, the original "Hartebeest Huisje" dating back to 1838.
The mansion known as "Fountain Villa" an ornate Victorian residence has intricate original metal plate ceilings, wonderful fireplaces and wooden floorboards, with verandahs and turrets, projecting gables and balconies. It was declared a National Monument on the 22 June,1990 after having been restored by Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Rolstone. The Institute of Architects listed " Fountain Villa" as one of the important buildings in the Transvaal and commented that it is. "...a remarkable example of the Late Victorian Villa, outside as well as inside."
Long before all this however other people walked the koppies and grasslands. The district has been inhabited by other people since the dawn of time - as the rich, nearby archaeological sites reveal. On the hills encircling the town, lie thousands of stone-age tools and implements, left behind by San People who once occupied the area. Today, all that remains of those early settlements are abandoned stone tools and magnificent etchings in the rocks at Bosworth, a farm near the town. Intricate images of rhino, eland and leopards were chipped into volcanic rocks on top of a koppie that looks across sweeping grasslands. The work is fine, delicate and detailed; and causes debate amongst academics, who for years have argued about the tools the artists used on their stone canvasses. One theory is that the engraving instruments included a diamond point - certainly a possibility, considering the locality of the nearby diamond fields. The area is rich with history. You can almost hear the ghosts when you walk in the old town cemetery where hundreds of victims of a British Boer war concentration camp lie beside British soldiers killed in the same conflict. In what must be the ultimate irony of that war, two Boers and two British soldiers are buried together in the same grave.
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