Willowmore was officially established in 1874 after starting as a trading center on the farm, The Willows. According to some, Willowmore was named after William Joseph, who occupied the farm “The Willows” on which the town was laid out. More romantically, others believe it was named by the farmer, Lukmkul, who combined his wife’s maiden name, Petronella Catherina Moore, with a large willow tree that stood close to the house.

For years, farming has been the main source of income for those living in the area, and since the late 1990s, it has been one of the biggest mohair-producing areas in the world. The town is one of the few in the area not to have to worry about water as a plentiful supply is obtained from boreholes on the farm Wanhoop, 26km from the town.

The word Baviaanskloof, derived from the Dutch valley of baboons, is associated with pristine nature, narrow gorges with flowing streams, steep mountain passes, vast plains with waving grasslands, and views of unspoiled wilderness. Nature has taken its course over thousands of years to create what is today universally recognized as the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site. Few other places in the world hold evidence of the footprint of human history spanning over a million years.
The narrow valley of the Baviaanskloof is just under 200 kilometers and bounded by two mountain ranges: the Baviaanskloof Mountains on the north and the Kouga mountains on the south. The valley lies at a lower altitude than the Karoo in the north.
The rainfall of the Karoo thus filters through the mountains to the Baviaanskloof river. For this reason, the valley is surprisingly lush and supports a wide variety of plant species than would have been otherwise expected.

The Grootrivier Valley, which runs east to west, lies between the Grootrivier Mountains in the north and the eastern remnants and foothills of the Swartberg in the south. Towards the east lies Steytlerville, and in the west, Beervlei Dam empties into the Gamtoos River, West of Patensie.
Travelers pass many secretive kloofs and gorges cloaked with diverse vegetation- mainly karoo scrub interspersed with large sections of riverine acacia thickets.
Until the early 20th century, the rich valley soil yielded abundant crops of pumpkin, watermelon, spanspek, and other vegetables. Fruit trees were plentiful, and peaches, pears, figs, mulberry, and other fruits grew prolifically.
Today, Angora goat farming is the most prominent industry, with Merinos, Boer goats, and Dorper sheep farming a sideline.

South Africa produces about 54% of the world’s mohair and Willowmore is among the top five areas south of Graaff-Reinet that routinely produce nearly half of that.
Mohair is a white, lustrous fibre (thus the “diamond fibre”) that is strong and elastic, and it forms a fabric that is easily dyed. Also sometimes called the “noble fibre”, mohair is lightweight, durable, breathes well and is crease-resistant.

There is an angel factory in the Karoo. And from this factory thousands of angels every year fly to other places, other countries, other cultures. This is the story of how it all started.

The story begins with a small craft project in a tiny and remote village in the beautiful Baviaans area of the Karoo semi-desert in South Africa. The name of the village is Vondeling, the craft project takes the name Vondeling Optel Craft, and the year is 2006. More than 10 years later the Karoo Angels tell a story about how small feather and wire angels, 100% made by hand, could dazzle and charm thousands of people all around the world, and put a forgotten village and forgotten people back on the map once again.