All Saints' Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church located within the

Galle fort Galle Fort ( si, ගාලු කොටුව ''Galu Kotuwa''; ta, காலிக் கோட்டை, translit=Kālik Kōṭṭai), in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese, then ext ...

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and is located on Church Road.

History

The decision to build an Anglican church at Galle, was initiated by the first

Bishop of Colombo Bishop of Colombo may refer to: * Anglican Bishop of Colombo The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican D ...

, Rt. Rev. James Chapman. The foundation of the church was laid on 30 October 1868, by Rev. Dr. Piers Calveley Claughton, the second Bishop of Colombo. The construction of the church was facilitated by a grant of the land and £600 from the 13th

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

, Sir Hercules Robinson. A further £1,000 contribution was received from an English parish. The church was designed by James George Smither, the government architect, who later designed the

National Museum of Colombo The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importanc ...

. The church was constructed on the site of a former Court House (1780s). The gallows it is said stood on the site of the present altar. The Anglican congregation in Galle which, up to then, worshipped in the Dutch Church. The church was consecrated on 21 February 1871 by Bishop Claughton, assisted by the church's first vicar, Rev. Dr. George Justus Schrader (1829-1875). In recognition of Rev. Dr. Schrader's significant contribution to the church, a large bell was placed in his memory in the centre dome of the church in 1876. In the mid 1960s, for security reasons the bell was lowered and was left to be sold. It was subsequently bought by the diocese and is now housed in the

Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour is located in Cinnamon Gardens (Colombo 07) a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the primary Anglican cathedral, affiliated to the Church of Ceylon. The decision to build the Anglican cathedral in Col ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. The current bell was acquired by the church in 1968. The bell came from the

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

, "Ocean Verity", and was donated by the Clan Line Steamship Company. The first Baptism at All Saints was Lilian Slade Godolphin Ozanne on 21 February 1871 and the first marriage was held on 25 March 1871, between James Weir and Jane Strene King.

Architecture

It was built on a basilican plan in a Victorian Gothic Revival style of architecture, modified to suit local climate. The plan of the Church is cruciform firmly supported on stone columns and arches carved beautifully in timber. Masonry arches built in local kabuk and lime mortar. The heavy

pews A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

, with carvings of the Jewish

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

, and the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

are all made from Burmese

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

References

External links

Official website

One hundred years in Ceylon, or, The centenary volume of the Church Missionary Society in Ceylon, 1818-1918 (1922) Author: Balding, John William
Madras: Printed at the Diocesan Press.
The Church of Ceylon - her faith and mission
Published in 1945, Printed at the Daily News Press by Bernard de Silva for the Church of Ceylon.
The Church of Ceylon: A history, 1945-1995
Editor: Medis, Frederick Published for the Diocese of Colombo. {{DEFAULTSORT:All Saints' Church, Galle Churches in Galle Churches completed in 1871 Church of Ceylon church buildings in the Diocese of Colombo Tourist attractions in Southern Province, Sri Lanka