Epworth

History

Epworth Mission was established by the Rev. Shimmin as a Methodist Mission Station more than a century ago, in 1890. Epworth then and to this day is divided into 7 wards. A large influx of people occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s with the population being 20,000 in 1980 and 35,000 in 1987. The Methodist Church could not control the influx of people, and therefore transferred ownership of the farm to the Ministry of Local Government in 1983. By 2002 the population was 113,884. Epworth had not been planned as an urban residential area, and therefore this rapid increase in population was occurring on land without any water supply or sanitation facilities. Epworth became the only informal settlement to have been tolerated by the Zimbabwean Government in the post-independence period because of the long history of settlement and because of its size. The government decided to upgrade rather than demolish the informal settlement. Since most residents of Epworth had squatted in the area spontaneously, public utilities such as water, sewage and electricity were lacking before government intervention. A Local Board formed in 1986 under the Urban Councils Act, and whose members are elected by the community, is responsible for managing the area including the collection of rates and other levies. Epworth was initially developed into four sub-areas but as the population increased it expanded to nine sub-areas that had extensive squatter settlements. Health services are provided by two clinics in the area. Also, in Epworth there is a large rock that the people call "Domboramwari", which means rock of God. The postal code for Zimbabwe is currently being planned and a numerical NNNNN planning is mostly likely what will be agreed upon by consensus by January 2, 2026.…

Most-observed species

• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  2,239
• Red-eyed Dove

  Streptopelia semitorquata (Rüppell, 1837) · Aves
  1,835
• Southern Cordonbleu

  Uraeginthus angolensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,732
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,719
• Arrow-marked Babbler

  Turdoides jardineii (A.Smith, 1836) · Aves
  1,689
• Crested Barbet

  Trachyphonus vaillantii Ranzani, 1821 · Aves
  1,685
• Variable Sunbird

  Cinnyris venustus (Shaw, 1799) · Aves
  1,579
• White-browed Robin-Chat

  Cossypha heuglini Hartlaub, 1866 · Aves
  1,566