In the vale of Clumber in the Eastern Cape, 5 km from Bathurst just off the Shaw Park road, lies Clumber Church. Situated on a knoll, this is the third Church to be built on this spot by the Nottingham Party and descendants of the 1820 Settlers. This knoll was given the name of Mount Mercy by the Nottingham Party in thanksgiving for their safe arrival here on a journey which had taken them over 6 months to complete. The wagons and carts that had transported them from "Tent Town" on the dunes of Algoa Bay to their final destination were offloaded at the base of Mount Mercy close to the Torrens River. A Service of Thanksgiving was held on Mount Mercy on the day of their arrival on July 23 1820.
Clumber Church from a distance
The Nottingham Party was one of the few Parties of 1820 Settlers that consisted of the poor as Nottingham was a cottage industry hub of lace and hosiery making. With the Industrial Revolution under way most of these family run cottage industries had to shut down. It was also the end of the Napoleonic Wars so demand for goods had slackened off and soldiers had returned from war with no prospect of employment...
