St. Paul's Church, Kandy

St. Paul's Church is an Anglican church in the historical district of Kandy, Sri Lanka on sacred grounds west of the Temple of the Tooth.

St. Paul's Church
Southern side of the church
Religion
AffiliationAnglican, Church of Ceylon
Year consecrated25 January 1853
StatusActive
Location
LocationKandy, Sri Lanka
Geographic coordinates7°17′40.3″N 80°38′22.9″E
Architecture
TypeChurch
StyleNeo-Gothic
General contractorAffleck and Gordon, Engineers
Groundbreaking16 March 1843
Completed1852
Direction of façadetowards west
Website
St. Paul's Church, Kandy
East end of the church

History

In 1825 the Bishop of Calcutta, Reginald Heber, visited Kandy with the Governor of Ceylon, Edward Barnes, to preach and conduct a confirmation service. He noted that the church services where being held in the former King of Kandy's Audience Hall, a location he associated with 'horrid cruelties'.[1] Heber also recognised the need for a purpose built church to service the needs of the garrison and the local community.[2]

In 1841 a public subscription list was established to fund the construction of the church.

In 1843 the British Government ceded a block of Crown land to the trustees of the church and their successors in order to construct a church in Kandy.[3]

The foundation stone of the church was laid by the Bishop of Madras George Spencer on 16 March 1843 and whilst it was first used on 10 August 1846 construction work was still in progress. The church was primarily constructed out of solid terracotta bricks, manufactured at the Government brickworks.[4] The church wasn't completed until 1852. The church was formally consecrated on 25 January 1853 (Feast day of the conversion of St. Paul) by the first Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman.

The church was enlarged in 1878 by Archdeacon Matthew, with addition of a chancel, vestry, and organ chamber.[5] The bricks however were inferior to the original and therefore concreted over. In 1926 a number of significant cracks appeared in the church walls and the eastern section of the building was declared unsafe. The rebuilding of this section facilitated a new extension to the church, the 50-seat Lady Chapel, which was completed and dedicated in August 1928.

As it was first used by British officials and the British Garrison,[6] it has been called the Garrison Church.[7]

The architectural style is Neo-Gothic, and the interior is a piece of English Victoriana.[8]

It is an Anglican church, affiliated to the Church of Ceylon.[9] The Reverend Neil Van Dort was vicar at St Paul's Church in 2013.[10]

The church houses the only pipe organ in Kandy[11] and potentially, the largest pipe organ in regular use in Sri Lanka.[12] The original pipe organ was donated in 1874 and was in constant use until the 21st Century. In 2009 it was replaced with a similar-sized pipe organ from a disused church in Bradford.[11]

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See also

References
  1. Pieris, Anoma (Ed) (2013). Architecture and Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The Trouser Under the Cloth. Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 9780415630023.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Selkirk, James (1844). Recollections of Ceylon after a Residence of Nearly Thirteen Years with an account of the Church Missionary Society's Operations in the Island and Extracts from a Journal. London: J. Hatchard and Son. pp. 502–503.
  3. Suetee, Edwald Beaumont Fraser; Garmin, T. F. (1913). "A Revised Edition of the Legislative Enactments of Ceylon ...: 1707 to [1913]". 1. H. C. Cottle: 171–177. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Karunaratna, Nihal; Aramudala, Madhyama Saṃskr̥tika (1999). Kandy, past and present, 1474-1998 A.D. Central Cultural Fund, Ministry of Religious and Cultural Affairs. p. 246. ISBN 9789556131215.
  5. Gunther, Michael. "St Paul's Church". Kingdoms of Sri Lanka. Old Stones: The Monuments of Art History. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  6. "St Paul's Church". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  7. "Kandy: Seeking The Unseen". Explore Sri Lanka. September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  8. The Rough Guide to Sri Lanka, Gavin Thomas, Rough Guides, 2012, p. 219.
  9. "St Paul's Church, Kandy". Diocese of Kurunegala. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. "Death Acknowledgements". Sunday Observer. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  11. Premawardhana, Namali (5 April 2015). "From Bradford UK, to St. Paul's Kandy". Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  12. Premawardhana, Namali (17 August 2014). "The hill city of Kandy". Sunday Times. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
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