Elim is a unique historical village, situated halfway on the dirt-road from Gansbaai to Bredasdorp. It was founded as a Moravian mission station in 1824 on the site of an existing farm called Vogelstruiskraal. As the third Moravian mission station in the Cape, it was dedicated to establishing a self-supporting church of indigenous people. Even at present, the whole of the municipal property is still, uniquely, owned and managed by the Moravian Church of South Africa.

Though Elims population has a diverse ancestry, the Khoi (indigenous cape population) element is strong. Because of the high standard of education in Elim, typical of Moravian social ethos, some white farmers from the surrounding countryside sent their children to school in Elim. Elim therefore was one of the rare exceptions in the whole of South Africa where education was not divided along racial lines. This is reflected in the good relations Elimmers generally had and still have with the white "Boer" population.

Elim is special in many ways: it is situated in the middle of a sparsely populated area, quite near (ca 45 km) to the southernmost tip of Africa, called Cape Agulhas. All around it you will find the rolling fields of Fijnbos that used to be typical of most of the South-western Cape. Through this splendid isolation Elim has lived through the days of Apartheid with relatively little damage to its social institutions and communal self esteem and still breathes the patience and friendliness of forlorn days. Its community stands out for being rooted in the Overberg in a way few other communities can boast of and its historical dwellings and community-buildings go back to the very first stages of settled life in the Overberg. Though Swellendam, Tulbagh and Genadendal may be slightly older, neither of those better known destinations has been so well conserved in its original historical and social tissue.

Dominated by the "Kerkwerf", the area around the beautifully maintained historical church, the village consists of neat rows of cottages on more or less equal plots, the majority of which date back to the 19th century. The houses are built of mud-brick, plastered with lime plaster made of sea shells and originally thatched with "restio-grass", harvested from the surrounding Fijnbos. The floors used to be levelled with cow dung, a habit that has gradually disappeared. Nowadays some of the cottages are painted in bright colours and many have corrugated steel roofs, expressive of changing times and harmonising surprisingly well with the historical setting and architecture.

The charming Kerkwerf itself is a collection of communal buildings with a central function. The village used to be, and still is for the most part, a self-sustaining farming community, in historical days delivering its handicrafts and farm goods to the surrounding settlements. The working water mill, which used to grind the flour for the local bakery, has been restored to its original historical state and will soon be providing its produce again. The local museum, with a collection of historical handicraft shows the history of the village with a large collection of historical photos. The museum is situated in the original mission store, which was until recently an important provider of goods for a large area around Elim. The original school building, a dark-red plastered building, now houses the municipal library, in front of it, as far as we know, the only monument celebrating the abolition of slavery (in 1835) in South Africa. There is a perfect little Guesthouse on the Kerkwerf, which enables visitors to enjoy Elim even more at leisure.

The church dominates the axis of the main road. Note the strong visual relation with the mountain in the distance, anchoring as it where the centre of the village to the surrounding landscape. This strong expansive symbolism has its counterpoint in the interior of the church, reflecting through its simple white furnishings the introverted purity of mind which the community aspires to.