Holy Trinity Church is an

Anglican 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 ...

church in

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( ; ) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landsc ...

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, ...

History

On 5 May 1845, a committee comprising Reverend Hermann Randall von Dadelszen, Colonel James Campbell, Colonel William Henry Slade (

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

), Captain Nelson (Royal Engineers), Lieutenant Albert Watson (

Ceylon Rifle Regiment The Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) was a regular native regiment formed by the United Kingdom, British in Ceylon. Its history goes back to 1795. The nucleus of the Regiment was two companies of Malays recruited from among prisoners at St Helena. In ...

), E. R. Power (Ceylon Civil Service), H. C. Selby, C. Temple and E. F. Gepp met to discuss the construction of a church in Nuwara Eliya, at an estimated cost of £900. Captain Nelson designed the building with the construction work done chiefly by the officers and men of the local garrison of the 15th Regiment, under the supervision of Major James Brunker. It took seven years after building commenced for the church to be completed. Upon its completion it was consecrated by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

James Chapman on 24 February 1852 ( St. Matthias’ Day). The first

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the Holy Trinity Church, from 1843 to 1846, was Rev. von Dadelszen. In the late 1890s the congregation proposed enlarging the Church, there was however some opposition, who proposed the construction of a new Church near the old cemetery. The majority of the congregation however preferred the existing site. In 1889 the church was enlarged. The original portion of the building is at the church's western end. The additions can be noted by the difference in size of the

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s supporting the main rafters. On 18 April 1954

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

attended services at the Holy Trinity church, with the Queen gifting a blue carpet and a stained glass window in remembrance of their visit. In 2001 the 100 year old Pipe Organ, which had been out of order for over 30 years, was restored at a cost of approximately half a million rupees. There are a number of memorial plaques on the church walls including Dr. G. Gardner, Superintendent of the

Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya are about 5.5 km to the west of the city of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. In 2016, the garden was visited by 1.2 million locals and 400,000 foreign visitors. It is near the Mahaweli River (th ...

; Captain William Fisher, father of Lord

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

, who was thrown off his horse and killed; Reginald Beauchamp Downall, tea planter,

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

member; and Lady Carolina Ridgeway, wife of Sir

Joseph West Ridgeway Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, (16 May 1844 – 16 April 1930) was a British civil servant and colonial governor. He was known as "Sir West Ridgeway". He was involved in the sodomy and child molestation charges against Hector Archibald MacDonald, co ...

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 Portugue ...

. The churchyard also several tombstones, including ones for Lady Olive Mary Caldecott, wife of Sir

Andrew Caldecott Sir Andrew Caldecott (26 October 1884 – 14 July 1951) was a British colonial administrator. Early years Andrew Caldecott was born on 26 October 1884 in Boxley, Kent, United Kingdom. He was the eldest child of Rev Andrew Caldecott and Isobe ...

, the last

, and the family members of Sir

Samuel Baker Sir Samuel White Baker (8 June 1821 – 30 December 1893) was an English explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya Churches in Nuwara Eliya Churches completed in 1852 19th-century Anglican church buildings in Sri Lanka 1852 establishments in the British Empire Archaeological protected monuments in Nuwara Eliya District Church of Ceylon church buildings in the Diocese of Colombo