Baynesfield private lodge

General information

The Late Joseph Baynes left Baynesfield Estate in trust for the benefit of South Africans when he died in 1925 without heirs.

The Estate is over 9000 hectares in extent and is run as a working farm, by a Board of Trustees, farming pigs, timber, maize, avocados, cattle and soya beans. Joseph Baynes started the bacon industry in SA and the Estate still has the largest breeding piggery in the Province.

BRIEF HISTORY:
Baynes House was built in 1882 for Joseph’s second wife Sarah. This imposing home is also a museum and national monument and houses many original pieces of furniture. It is surrounded by a 5 acre garden with many large beautiful trees planted by Joseph and Sarah. Joseph Baynes was known as “The conquerer of the Tick” because of his successful fight against East Coast Fever – a tick borne disease. He was also instrumental in draining the “Congella swamps” to create Maydon Wharf, thus doubling the size of Durban harbor.

The museums are housed in the first butter factory in South Africa – a beautiful building built in 1898; the first refrigeration room in the country which has been restored with the help of the Natal Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club and where their museum has been established; the homestead where Joseph Baynes lived with his first wife Maria, until her death after a difficult childbirth. It is in this building that enthusiastic Woodcrafters have set up their workshops to demonstrate the use of antique woodworking tools.

Baynesfield Estate now offers accommodation at The Baynesfield Lodge and Garden Cottage. There are wonderful walks and MTB trails to follow and guests can enjoy fishing at the two dams and traversing the farm.