The Boake Gates (officially ''Boake Memorial Gates'') at

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

are three entrances to the main building along

Rajakeeya Mawatha Rajakeeya Mawatha (Sinhalese: රාජකීය මාවත) (English: ''Royal Avenue'' formerly ''Race Course Avenue'') is a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, named after Royal College Colombo, whose grounds border it on the southern side. Located in ...

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 ...

. Erected in 1938, the gates stand as a symbol for the college's traditions and culture. The gates were built in memory of Rev. Dr.

Barcroft Boake Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (26 March 1866 – 2 May 1892) was an Australian poet. Background Born in Sydney, Boake worked as a surveyor and a boundary rider, but is best remembered for his poetry, a volume of which was published five years a ...

, who served as headmaster of the ''Colombo Academy'', the forerunner to the Royal College Colombo from 1842 to 1870. His son Rev W. H. Boake bequeathed £250 in his will to the Lord Bishop of Colombo to be used at Royal College in the memory of his father. This money was used to build a set of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

gates which were named the Boake Memorial Gates, replacing the wooden gates that had been installed when the new Royal College building was built in 1923. The gates were made under the supervision of Kenneth de Kretser, CMG; the Director of Public Works and were designed by Tom Neville Wynne-Jones. The opening ceremony was held on 13 January 1938 by Miss Carpenter-Garnier the sister of the Bishop of Colombo, who was in fact due to open the gates however had fallen ill. The gates are made of wrought iron, with brick piers. There are three sets of gates with each larger main gates flanked by two smaller side gates. The main gates are adorned with the pre-1954 crest of the college. One of sides of the gates include inscriptions in memory of Rev. Boake. The side gates remain open throughout the year, while the centre gates remain closed except for rare occasions. The school's War Memorial is located between the centre gates and the main entrance of the ''College Main Hall''.Royal college salutes the Royalist war heroes, by Commodore Shemal Fernando, RSP, USP, MSc, psc, SLN
/ref>

References

{{Reflist Royal College, Colombo

See also

References