Vergelegen Camphor Trees

Towering over Vergelegen House and providing ample shade for visitors passing through the eponymous wine estate’s extensive gardens are the property’s “Big Five” camphor trees, which were declared national monuments in 1942. 

Willem Adriaan van der Stel began planting these trees in 1700, shortly after he capriciously laid claim to nearly 75,000 acres of prime agricultural land 50 kilometers southeast of Cape Town. As an Extraordinary Councillor of the Dutch East Indies and the governor of the Cape Colony, his actions were not unusual especially since the previous governor, his father, had performed a similar land grab on the peninsula some years before.

But what set Willem Adriaan apart was his horticultural imagination and experimentation resulting in the flourishing of these now famous camphor trees. Numerous seedlings from the Big Five now garnish the estate, but the originals have born witness to 300 years of extraordinary history.

Van der Stel was forced to leave his land following a revolt in 1707, and the property underwent centuries of ever-changing ownership and reconfiguration. But through it all, the trees endured. In 1917, the Phillips family took possession of the estate and removed all the vineyards in favor of redesigning the homestead and gardens, being sure to preserve the camphor trees. By 1966, the Barlow family had taken over the estate and began to replant grape vines on a small scale while also introducing orchards and Jersey cattle. 

Since 1987, however, Vergelegen has been owned by the Anglo-American company, a mining concern that is the largest producer of platinum in the world. Restoring the vineyards to their former glory, the AAC curates 17 additional formal gardens, over which the camphor trees stand watchfully as heads of state, royalty, celebrities, and wine connoisseurs from around the world browse the grounds.

The camphor evergreens, or camphor laurels (Cinnamomum camphora) are originally from Asia where they are widely cultivated in China and Korea. The well-known essential oil, camphor, has been used for thousands of years as a perfume and topical medication for inflammation, and in the modern era it is used as a food flavoring, preservative in candies, insect repellent, alternative medicine, and notably, as an embalming fluid.  

Although the name “Vergelegen” means “situated far away,” the estate is less than an hour away from Cape Town. The noble camphor trees make the drive well worth the trip — and the availability of good wine doesn’t hurt either.