Bredasdorp was founded on the farm Langefontein in 1838, by the Hon. Michiel van Breda, who was the first mayor of Cape Town and a member of the Cape Legislative Council.

The old farm homestead together with the old Independent Church alongside, are both national monuments and both buildings today house a unique and fascinating collection of shipwreck memorabilia. The Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp, tells the tale of the fate of many a soul who encountered the nearby treacherous Agulhas Bank which stretches some 80 kilometres out to sea and was the cause of the demise of many experienced seamen and their vessels.

The thatch roof homestead, one of the first to be constructed in Bredasdorp, was built in 1845 and although built on the traditional U-plan there are signs

that its builders were not artisans - the 50 centimeter thick mud-brick walls are irregular and opposite walls are not parallel. Other interesting features are the skew lintels and roof beams taken from the wrecks along the coast. After 1885 the building became the home of the rector of the Anglican Church and is still known as the Rectory. The old church building was their hall.

Next to the Rectory is the dignified old slate roofed neo-Gothic style Independent Church which was built 1860. The founding of the church had to do with an unfortunate period in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church in Bredasdorp when the independent congregation broke away from the mother church and continued as such until 1875. 

Bredasdorp has a street named after this event; Independent Street.