The idea of creating a Kimberley Ghost Trail originated in August 1995. Subsequent research led us to a treasure of interesting ghosts that haunt the many old buildings and historical sites in and around Kimberley. They vary from a riderless horse that runs at Carter’s Ridge every year, a lone bagpiper that still try to motivate his fellow soldiers at the Magersfontein battlefield and a uniformed British soldier marching up and down at the Kimberley Golf Club.
The official launch of the Kimberley Ghost Trail took place on Wednesday 3 September 1998.
Due to time constraints and to keep the tour affordable, not all haunted houses and sites are visited. However, most of those stories are told while in transit from one haunted spot to another.
The Kimberley Ghost Trail is for people with an appetite for history, old buildings, thrilling fun & entertainment and of course, people with only a gentle interest in the supernatural ...
In essence, the ghost trail is a night time historical tour of the city utilising reports of ghost activities and sightings as the marketing magic. Naturally, all groups will be accompanied by registered tourist guides. (Our guides will also do the ghost trails in day time, but be warned, the night trails with its bone-chilling ambiance remain the real McKoy!)

This wonderful memorial was designed by the famous Sir Herbert Baker on instruction of Cecil John Rhodes to honour the fallen during the Siege of Kimberley. The memorial is also a vault containing the mortal remains of 27 British soldiers.
The guide will lead the group up the dark and twisty flight of stairs where he/she, once reaching the vantage point, will give a brief history of the origins of Kimberley and serve sherry to help calm the nerves.

Established in 1881, the most famous members were Cecil John Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson (who led the Jameson raid into Transvaal), Barney Barnato, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and his son, Harry Oppenheimer. If so booked, the group will sit down for a light dinner. Wine and fruit juices will also be served.
The guide will lead the group up the stairs to explore the passages. When possible, the group will be allowed a brief visit into the member’s bar for a look at the pictures and paintings.
The Kimberley Club is reputed to be haunted by a certain Mr van Praag.

Opened in 1887, it boasts a magnificent wrought-iron gallery, spiral staircase, chandeliers and antique furniture. The group enters through the backyard and gathers at the very spot where a former librarian committed suicide by drinking arsenic. The Africana Library is the site of one of the most active ghosts, believed to be that of its first qualified librarian, Bertrand Dyer. When possible, the group will be allowed into the building and meet one of its staff members for a brief talk on ghostly activities in the building.

Owned by C.D. Rudd, one of the early diamond magnates, this rambling historical house was known as ‘The Bungalow’. The house has a number of under floor hatches and an eerie billiard room displaying stuffed heads and horns of a large number of hunted animals. The house is reputed to be haunted by a phenomenon that creates a terrible sound resembling that of plates, cups, glasses and cutlery falling on the ground.

The Kimberley Regiment was founded in 1876 and has famous personalities like Cecil John Rhodes and Harry Oppenheimer as former honorary colonels. The Drill Hall is also a turn of the century building reflecting the architectural style typical of Kimberley. The Drill Hall is home to a very active ghost believed to be that of Sir David Harris.

Built in 1897 by Cecil John Rhodes as a sanatorium, this magnificent building was used as a luxury hotel (the posh Hotel Belgrave) and later as a convent school before being taken over by the McGregor Museum.
It is reported that many ghosts haunt the building, the stairs at the entrance to the building and the staff passages. When possible, the group will be allowed into the staff passages via a walk up the creeking stairs.

The cafeteria of the Kimberley Golf Club is regularly visited by a ghost that appears to be a uniformed British soldier walking into the cafeteria and then through the cold drink fridge. The group, when possible, will be addressed by a staff member of the golfclub, who on numerous occasions has seen the sa.

The Gladstone Cemetery is home to the grave of the first British Officer to die in the Anglo-Boer war and graves of people who burnt to their death in the great De Beers Mine disaster. The tour will draw to a close at the grave of Mr & Mrs Frankenstein.

Death on the diamond diggings and later during the Anglo-Boer War gave Kimberley many haunted corners. So too did failed romance and other downright gory deaths, like a huge fire in the old De Beers Mine in which hundreds of miners perished. Today, the shivering facts and fallacies about these ghostly visitations are acked in a fun and entertaining guided ghost trail. Your expert tourist guide will lead you to some of the very sites where the ghosts are reputed to be seen. Some stops on tour include the spot where a former librarian of the Kimberley Public Library, now the Africana Library, committed suicide - his ghost is blamed for unexplained rearrangements of books and files in the library; the Kimberley Club; Rudd House; Kimberley Regiment¹s Drill Hall; McGregor Museum; Gladstone Cemetery where some interesting graves such as the one of the first British officer to die during the Anglo-Boer War are found. Your tour may be extended to include the Magersfontein battlefield where, it is said, you may hear the lone Scottish piper, piping a lament, or even lay an eye on the legendary saddled but riderless horse.
The Kimberley Ghost Trail is for people with an appetite for history, old buildings, a good ghost story, thrilling fun and an alternative kind of night-time entertainment. The trail is certainly for people with only a gentle interest in the supernatural and all that goes with it. Will anybody actually spot the apparitions? Well, no-one can really say, but going on the trail will definitely render you a spine-chilling opportunity to stumble on a phantom still searching for buried treasures or trying to wrap up unfinished business. So, bite your lip and book your place on the Kimberley Ghost Trail, one of the very best ghost trails in the world! Tours usually start just before sunset at the Honoured Dead Memorial, where a vault contains the earthly remains of 27 British soldiers who died during the Siege of Kimberley. Due to time constraints, not all haunted sites are visited. However, the tours usually end just in time for everybody to be nicely tucked in bed before the clock announces the bewitching hour!

Reservations are made through Tourism Kimberley at (053) 832-7298 or directly with the tourist guides. Tourism Kimberley’s role will be to locate an available guide for the group. The group will thereafter deal on their own with the tourist guide.
Tours are designed to take place at night and usually starts at around 18:00. The full ghost trail will end just in time for everybody to be nicely tucked in bed before the clock announces the bewitching hour!
On request, tours will be done in daytime or shortened to suit the budget of the client. Clients must also indicate if they want a light dinner to be included.
Clients must negotiate the fee for the tour with the tourist guides and not with Tourism Kimberley. Tourism Kimberley only promotes the Ghost Trail as an attraction an do not run their own tours