Pilgrim's Rest

In 1873 Alec Patterson found alluvial gold in the stream that flows through the valley. News spread like wildfire and sparked off the biggest gold rush of the time. Nowhere was gold ever mined in more a romantic and beautiful surroundings.

Mining continued until 1972 with the village being sold to the government as a national museum. Today Pilgrim's Rest is a living museum, preserved in the exact architectural style of the gold rush period, boasting various buildings that have remained unchanged externally for more than a century.

Situated on the Eastern Escarpment of the Panorama Route, Pilgrim's Rest was declared a National Monument in 1986. The town is richly imbued with a diversity of cultural and historic memories. The uniqueness of this historic village is vividly evident in its museums and historic sites as it offers visitor a window into the past, capturing the spirit of a bygone era, its people in their quest for gold

At the graveyard, every single grave was laid facing in the same direction, except for the famous Robber’s Grave which is laid perpendicular to the rest, emblazoned simply with a cross and the large type words of Robbers Grave. It is as the name suggests the grave of a robber who was shot stealing a tent from one of the miners. A tent represented a "home" so was the most valuable of any individuals belongings, stealing this tent was a most grievous crime and the punishment was meted out in the extreme.

This grave site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on May 15, 2004 in the Cultural category.