Wellington Museum, a small town museum with a 5000-year-old surprise

Rare antique pianos, Stone Age tools and 5000-year-old Egyptian relics

Last updated: Thursday, 4 June 2026

You probably wouldn’t expect an Ancient Egyptian vase from 3100 BCE in a small town museum. For just R20 for adults and R5 for kids, you can see Middle Stone Age tools, Ancient Egyptian jewellery, and other artefacts at the Wellington Museum.

PIECE OF ANCIENT EGYPT IN WELLINGTON

Most of the museum’s collection tells the story of Wellington, so this exhibit comes as a surprise. In 1948, a collection of Egyptian antiquities was given to Miss S. Stafford, the principal of the Huguenot University College. Today you can see it in the Wellington Museum.

The collection features a number of ushabti (funeral) figurines, scarab amulets, sacred eyes, pendants, and ancient vases. The oldest piece in the collection is an unassuming terracotta and black vase that dates back to 3100 BCE (over 5 000 years old).

The collection includes Egyptian ushabti (funeral) figurines. Image: Sharon Waugh

WELLINGTON’S KAAPSE KLOPSE & MORE STORIES

Besides the Ancient Egypt exhibit, the museum shares the history of Wellington from the San and Khoi, to colonialism, apartheid, and the present day. One section highlights Middle Stone Age tools, while a photo gallery honours Wellington’s Kaapse Klopse tradition.

In another section, which focuses on forced removals in Wellington, visitors open small doors marked with street names to reveal community stories from displaced families. Nearby, a large painting depicts an NG Kerk that served a Coloured congregation before it was demolished.

Wellington’s history is well-documented in this museum. Image: Sharon Waugh

TRACE THE TOWN’S HISTORY

The “Het Lieve Wellington” (“My beloved Wellington”) exhibit traces the town’s history from 1840 onwards. You’ll find a compass used by Andrew Geddes Bain while building Bainskloof Pass, and wooden beams from the 1853 Lady Loch bridge that once linked Paarl and Cape Town.

There are also artefacts from everyday life in colonial Wellington, like a massive Dutch bible dating back to 1703 and an unusual rectangular piano from the 1890s.

The antique grand piano dates back to the 1890s. Image: Sharon Waugh

FUN, CHEAP & UNUSUAL THINGS TO DO IN WELLINGTON

Wellington has plenty more unconventional day trip ideas. At Bartholomeus Klip’s Quagga Breeding Programme you can see these once-extinct creatures, while at the Quenti Alpaca & Mill, you can learn about alpacas, feed them and cuddle a cria (a baby alpaca).

South African Fynbos offers a guided fynbos tasting, walk and lunch. For an affordable outing, Wellington has many hiking trails, including those of the Limietberg Nature Reserve.

VISIT THE WELLINGTON MUSEUM

The Wellington Museum is open: Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
Find it: Corner of Church and College Street, Wellington
Entry fee: R20 for adults and pensioners, R10 for students, R5 for children
Contact on: 021 873 4604 | info@wellingtonmuseum.co.za  

By Sharon Waugh

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