Prynnsberg Estate

Prynnsberg was a manor built between 1881 and 1884 in Clocolan, Free State, South Africa by Charles Newberry (1841–1922) who immigrated to South Africa in 1864 as a carpenter to join his older brother John, mining in Greytown and eventually gained enough holdings in the Kimberly diamond mining industry to stop actively mining and build his mansion. Charles's daughter was Winifred Brunton.

When the Kimberly Mines opened in 1872, Charles Newberry spent seven years digging in the hottest Kimberly weather for diamonds gaining enough holdings to be a shareholder in Cecil Rhodes Central Mining Company, which became De Beers. By the time Cecil Rhodes came to consolidate all the independent claims in the Big Hole to create De Beers Charles Newberry and his brother John had built up a substantial holding in "the big hole" . When Rhodes's consolidation came about in 1879 Charles Newberry found himself free to pursue other ventures while John became a director of the newly formed De Beers. Having met and fallen in love with the daughter of a Lesotho based missionary (Elizabeth Daniel daughter of the Rev John Daniel) while on a trip through the Eastern Free State he decided to make the Eastern Free State his home and along with his new wife set about the fulfilment of his dream of creating a classic English country estate in the wilds of Africa. Having purchased the foundation of the estate from a man named Prynn he christened his venture Prynnsberg in 1881. The estate – which in its heyday covered over 20,000 hectares of land lies on the edge of the Maluti Mountains under a sandstone cliff in the Thaba Nchu District.

The house began as additions to the original single story farmhouse and became a three-story, 20-room manor, constructed of finely crafted sandstone in the African veld. The estate included two churches, a vicarage, a gamekeepers’ lodge, stables and various outbuildings. The house was built in old-world grandeur, becoming a national gem and, was decorated by the London firm James Shoolbred and Company of Tottenham Court Road. Prynnsberg includes enormous rooms of gold leaf and flocked wallpapers, intricate oak parquet, pressed leather panelling, rococo plaster ceilings, gilded cornices, elaborate tiled fireplaces, leaded windows and teak doors with Victorian stained glass and flamboyant friezes. Also there was a 700-Volt D.C. Dynamo which supplied power to the lathes refrigerator for the Cold Room where fruit from the orchard was stored.

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