Ashton, Western Cape

Province

Ashton is a city in the town of Langenberg district of Cape Winelands, Western Cape Province in South Africa. It lies at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains on Route 62 between Robertson and Montagu.

In 2011 the town had 7,727 inhabitants dei. 86.33 % of the population are referred to in the statistics as mixed race ( Coloured ), 8.62% are White, and 4.14% are black Africans. The rest is distributed to other groups. The main language is Afrikaans, which is spoken by more than 95 % of the residents.

History

After the completion of the railway from Worcester to the coast at Mossel Bay in 1887, the trading post Roodewal got a train station and was shortly thereafter renamed Ashton ( by job Ashton, Director and railway engineer of the New Cape Central Railways ). The city status was given the place in 1956.

Ashton is a well-known fruit growing area with two large canneries. The Langenberg Fruit Company is now one of the largest producers of canned fruit in South Africa. In addition, there are five wineries here.