Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum

About Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum

If you want to really step back in time and experience farming as it once was, then the Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum, just 40 kilometres east of Pretoria, with the largest collection of farming implements in the country and a pretty unique collection of vehicles, is the place for you.

Did you know? Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum showcases the history of the development of agriculture in South Africa from the Stone Age until 1945.

The Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum has been designed in such a way that it is fun for the whole family – and there aren’t many museums about which you can say that.

The old farmyard is an attempt to re-create an historic farmyard that includes Nguni cattle, turkeys, Painted Persian sheep and other domesticated animals which are constant entertainment for little ones, and the traditional mampoer (moonshine) distilling is an added attraction for adults.

In winter every year there is a Mampoerfees held at the museum that attracts visitors to the museum which forms part of the Northern Flagship Institution, a title given to the finest collection of museums in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

As well as the farmyard there is a house museum, blacksmith’s shop and wagon shed. The house at Kaalfontein was already built when Willem Petrus Prinsloo, nicknamed Willem Wragtag (roughly translated as Willem, really) bought the farm in 1889.

There is a wood-burning stove in the kitchen, and family photographs in the hallway and in other parts of the house, and the bed in the main bedroom has a mattress made from coir and feather – the envy of many a greenie seeking eco alternatives today. And the beautiful grounds of the farm can be used for family picnics.