Free State provincial article - South African Vacations

HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE
All Saints Anglican Church: This church, dating back to 1891, is noteworthy for its beautiful
stained glass windows, which were created by Helen Tennent, a talented local artist. The
windows depict the natural fauna and flora of the Free State in blazing colours.
Fick Memorial: General Fick and his wife lie buried at the foot of the Fick Memorial.
Ficksburg’s Old Cemetery: The cemetery holds the graves of several British and Boer
soldiers who died during the Anglo-Boer War as well as the graves of three Frenchmen
who fought on the Boer side. However, the two most notorious graves belong to two men
who were convicted of spying during the war and who both died maintaining their
innocence. One of the men, Arthur Pond, was buried with his tombstone facing the wrong
way and, even though his innocence was proved 15 years later, the alignment of his
tombstone remains unchanged.
Ficksburg Jail: The first president of the Republic of South Africa, President CR Swart, was
once incarcerated in Ficksburg Jail. He was imprisoned in 1914 on suspicion of having
aided and abetted the Boer republican rebels of General Christiaan de Wet and released
the day before he was to have been executed. The jail is in Brand Street.
Ficksburg Museum: The museum depicts the history of the town and gives an overview of
the town’s cherry industry.
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