The creation of a magisterial district 1837 marked the increasing presence of the colonial state in the Cedarberg. The district's jagged outline indicates the limits imposed by a rugged topography. The long, narrow leg at the south of the district follows the upper Olifants River Valley, claiming the arable valley floor for Clanwilliam, leaving the high Cedarberg to the east and the sandy coastal plain to the west to neighboring districts. The dense crosshatching of farm boundaries within the district shows the extent to which even the marginal lands and rocky hills were eventually incorporated into private land ownership.
Courtesy of the Western Cape Archives and Records Service.
CA: M3/4773, Clanwilliam Division Map, 1923