The Old Parsonage Museum in Fraserburg is the first parsonage that the Fraserburg Reformed Church, the local congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), built for its pastor, five years after the congregation's founding in 1851. It has for many years housed the local museum and is one of three national heritage sites in the Karoo town. Its restoration around 1979 was the largest of several projects in the region carried out around that time, including that of the Peperbus, a former Anglican church and gunpowder magazine. The building was completed at the beginning of 1856 by Henry Burnett. The plan was approved by the church council, but the Rev. Carl Arnoldus Bamberger (invested here in 1854) had a major role in the design, including metric rather than English-measured doors. During the planning of the restoration, research in the Cape Church archives and other local sources uncovered much information about the building's history. Design The church council rejected a plan for a gabled house - similar to those found in Prince Albert today - in favor of a more "modern" Plan using wolf ends instead. The facade includes a front door with a fanlight and four sash windows. A small entryway leads to two lobbies and a dining room with curved walls vaguely reminiscent of Baroque architecture. The kitchen, servant quarters, and stable are housed in a back wing, giving the building an L-shape. The wings were two rooms wide. At the side and back are swinging tails, each with 15 windows built in the Cape Dutch style, one that had become obsolete around 1815 in the Boland but remained in use in other regions until the end of the 19th century. Although the council opted for a modern style, the building has a medieval character in many ways. The pioneers of the veld had lived in seclusion from Europe, and thus their conservatism preserved architectural traditions that had disappeared elsewhere. Despite medieval elements, it cannot be said to be a Gothic house. In fact, the only Gothic Revival detail is the dining room fireplace decoration, probably made by the elders. The wolf ends are more reminiscent of a Dutch hallehuis (free-standing barn) of the High Middle Ages. The use of thick solder beams with broad boards is a tradition Cape houses of the 18th century brought from earlier times in Europe. The hinge work on many