Holy Emmanuel Church is an
Anglican church
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
in
Moratuwa
Moratuwa () is a large municipality on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. It is situated on the Galle–Colombo (Galle road) main highway, south of the centre of Colombo. Moratuwa is surrounded on three sides ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
(a southern suburb of
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
). The current church building was officially consecrated in 1860 but the site has been used for religious services since 1799.
History
In 1675 the Dutch constructed a building on the site of the current church cemetery. The building was subsequently used as a school and from 1799 for religious services. In 1815 it was demolished and the first Anglican Church was built on the site. The church was funded by the
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Robert Brownrigg
General (United Kingdom), General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born United Kingdom, British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of ...
and the local congregation. The church was popularly known as the "Brownrigg Palliya", with a capacity to hold 800 to 1,000 people.
[Holy Emmanuel Church Moratuwa: History (Official Website)]
Retrieved 22 December 2014[
On 4 January 1857, ]Gate Mudaliyar
Mudaliyar (or Mudali) was a Ceylon, Ceylonese colonial title during Portuguese Ceylon, Portuguese and British Ceylon, British rule of the island. Stemming from the Native headmen of Ceylon, native headman system, the title was usually hereditary, ...
Jeronis de Soysa
Gate Mudaliyar Jeronis de Soysa (19 April 1797 – 28 May 1862) was a pioneering Ceylonese entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a pioneer coffee planter and an industrialist who became the wealthiest Ceylonese of the 19th century by establish ...
requested the 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 ...
, James Chapman, seek Governor Henry Ward's approval to demolish the old church building and construct a new church on a adjacent to the cemetery.[ On 31 January Governor Ward granted approval for the new church and on 27 December Bishop Chapman laid the foundation stone for the building. It was designed by Thomas Skinner and completed at a cost of over £5,338, with the funds mainly contributed by Jeronis de Soysa and his brother Susew de Soysa.][ On 18 December 1860 de Soysa transferred the title of the land to the Anglican Church.][
On 27 December 1860, the Holy Emmanuel Church was consecrated by Bishop Chapman. Governor ]Charles Justin MacCarthy
Sir Charles Justin MacCarthy (1811–1864) was the 12th Governor of British Ceylon and the 12th Accountant General and Controller of Revenue. He was appointed on 22 October 1860 and was Governor until 1 December 1863. He also served as acting go ...
and his wife, together with a number of notable Europeans were present at the consecration service.[
]
Architecture
The church was designed by Major Thomas Skinner, an engineer who worked in the Public Works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
Department, in a Victorian Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
style. The dominant feature is the landmark bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
at the entrance of the church. The church is in length, with the roof of the nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
resting on six arches. The stained glass windows were imported from England. The pipe organ was donated in 1902 by the Mendis brothers.
Commemoration
On 27 December 2010 Sri Lanka Post
The Department of Posts, functioning under the brand name Sri Lanka Post ( Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා තැපැල් ''Shri Lanka Tæpæl''), is a government operated postal system in Sri Lanka. The postal headquarters is the Genera ...
issued a Rs.
Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of
India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...
5 postal stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the church.
Further reading
*
External links
Holy Emmanuel Church, Moratuwa official site
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Emmanuel
Churches completed in 1860
19th-century Anglican church buildings in Sri Lanka
Churches in Colombo
Church of Ceylon church buildings in the Diocese of Colombo
1860 establishments in Ceylon
British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka