| Cookhouse | |
| Native Name: | Kookhuis |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -32.7453°N 25.8047°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Eastern Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Sarah Baartman |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Blue Crane Route |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 50.98 |
| Elevation M: | 585 |
| Population Total: | 5707 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 80.7% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 16.0% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.2% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 2.8% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.4% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 75.4% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 19.7% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | English |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 2.5% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 2.4% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 5820 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 5820 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 042 |
Cookhouse (Afrikaans: Kookhuis) is a small village located in Eastern Cape province, South Africa, some 170km (110miles) north of Port Elizabeth and 24km (15miles) east of Somerset East, on the west bank of the Great Fish River.
Cookhouse is part of the Blue Crane Route Municipality, situated in Sarah Baartman District, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.Cookhouse was an early colonial settlement. The Scottish abolitionist and poet, Thomas Pringle mentions Cookhouse in his journal. The town was also visited by early explorers and writers such as Dutch military commander Robert Jacob Gordon and French traveller François Levaillant. Gordon's stay in South Africa produced scientific writings, drawings and maps about the region.[2] The town is home to the Cookhouse Wind Farm which comprises 66 turbines. The farm became operational in November 2014 and supplies clean energy to the Eskom grid.[3]
The Great Fish River formed the eastern boundary of the Cape Colony until 1819. The current village is said to take its name from a small stone house used for shelter and cooking by troops camping on the bank of this river. Another explanation links the name to the hot climate as experienced by the troops stationed there.[4]
The Cookhouse is located on what was the Roodewal farm owned by Frans Johannes van Aardt in the 1770s. He was born on 12 September 1777 in Somerset East and died in 1856. Frans Johannes van Aardt was married twice; first to Susanna Wilhelmina Tregardt on 21 October 1798. She died in 1825 aged 27.[5] Another theory is that this small town got its name is in the late 1790s because Susanna van Aardt supplied provisions from her "cookhouse" (or outdoor kitchen) to riders and soldiers waiting to cross the Great Fish River. After her death, Frans Johannes married Maria Johanna Mentz in 1826.
In the 1870s, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno oversaw a massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway system, and a route northwards to De Aar from Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred was chosen by the Cape Government Railways to pass through what is now Cookhouse. A station was built here, which became an important railway junction, and a small settlement formed around this connection.[6]
This railway station in Cookhouse is an attraction was written about in Cookhouse Station, a poem by Chris Mann that describes how he imagines the railway station was at its peak.[7]