Mossienes and Vinknes: how one valley got two villages

Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek West lie just five kilometres apart. They grew as two separate villages because of a church dispute.

In the mid-1800s local families met at Allesverloren and decided to form a Dutch Reformed congregation and build a church. The community could not agree, and two congregations emerged. The mother church in Malmesbury accepted the arrangement.

Riebeek West became a parish in 1858. In Riebeek Kasteel the cornerstone of the church was laid on 8 August 1855, but because of the dispute the congregation only became independent in 1863.

The villages had nicknames too. Riebeek Kasteel was known as Mossienes, the sparrow's nest, and Riebeek West as Vinknes, the finch's nest. Locals still enjoy the friendly rivalry, for example at the yearly Boxing Day cricket match.