Colonel CP Nel’s private collection of antiquities was brought to their present home in the former Oudtshoorn Boys’ High School building in 1972, and in 1980, the building complex was named a National Monument. The building, with its eye-catching clock tower, is considered to be one of the finest examples of stone masonry in South Africa. The museum traces the history of ostriches and the impact of ostrich farming on the town and community, as well as depicting the cultural history and the lifestyle of the people of the Klein Karoo region.