Richmond

Richmond was established in 1843 as a church and market town for the farming community of the central Karoo. Unusually for a Karoo settlement, the designers centred the town on a village square rather than a church, a decision that still gives the place a different feel to its neighbours. Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland named it Richmond in memory of Charles Lennox, the 4th Duke of Richmond. The town was proclaimed a municipality in 1854 and grew steadily through the 19th century as a wool and livestock centre.

The book town designation came through the work of two people, a KwaZulu-Natal lecturer and a Canadian vet, who brought the international Booktown concept to the Karoo. Richmond is now Africa's only official book town and hosts the annual Boekbedonnerd literary festival. The festival has built a genuine following, and the cluster of second-hand bookshops in the village is small but real. It gives Richmond a reason to visit beyond scenery and passing through on the N1.

The fossil record in the Richmond district is significant. On Klipplaat farm, 60 fossilised claw-like footprints believed to have been made by an Aulacephalodon, a slow-moving plant-eating reptile from 250 million years ago, are preserved in the rock. The broader Karoo basin in this area is one of the richest palaeontological zones in the world, and the fossils in the Richmond district are accessible to visitors with permission from landowners or through guided tours.

The town itself is typical Karoo: a Dutch Reformed church, a small museum, wide streets, and a pace that slows you down whether you want it to or not. The Ongers River passes nearby. The surrounding plains and koppies are worth exploring on foot or by 4x4.