| Kestell | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Free State#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -28.3167°N 70°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Free State |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Thabo Mofutsanyana |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Maluti a Phofung |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 12.6 |
| Elevation M: | 1700 |
| Population Total: | 8269 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 92.8% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.3% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.4% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 6.4% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.1% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Sotho |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 80.5% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Zulu |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 7.5% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 6.8% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | English |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 2.5% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 2.6% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 058 |
Kestell is a small maize farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.
Town 46 km west of Harrismith and east of Bethlehem. The new village was laid out in 1905 on the farms Mooifontein and Driekuil, acquired from Adriaan and Johannes Bezuidenhout. It became a municipality in 1906.
It is named after the Reverend Dr. John Daniel Kestell (1854 - 1941), Anglo-Afrikaner minister of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1894 to 1903, author and cultural leader, who played an important role in the Anglo-Boer War and later helped with the Bible translations into Afrikaans.[2] The Dutch Reformed Church building, designed by famed architect of dozens of churches and the Voortrekker Monument, Gerard Moerdijk, was inaugurated on 31 March 1928.
The township was surveyed and laid out by William Homan in 1905. To prevent jealousy he 'called the long streets after the tall members of the committee and the short streets after the short members.'When the committee insisted that Homan had a street named after him, he selected 'a rough short street' which still bears that name.[3]
It is located southeast from the Battle of Groenkop-site of the Second Boer War. The battle took place on 25 December 1901 when General Christiaan De Wet's Boer troops defeated a British column.