The Holy Trinity Church Building - Nuwara Eliya

The Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya has mostly served the plantations, first coffee and then tea. The architectural building commenced in 1845, mostly by the men of the 15th Regiment and Corporal Moore, a clever builder under the commandment of Major Bunker. The Church was consecrated by Bishop Chapman on St. Matthias Day 24th February 1852.

The tombstones within the churchyard and memorial tablets within the church reveal that those who worshipped and shared a common pew have been Governors of colonial Ceylon and humble plantation laborers. Whilst the congregation has changed over the years, the church's faithful witness to the people of Nuwara Eliya has not changed over the years. This church serves a multi cultural and multi ethnic community.

The architecture and history of the Holy Trinity Church is considered very valuable that the Government of Sri Lanka has declared the building and the premises a 'Sacred Monument'. The church maintains a detailed map of the graves which will be of assistance to the kith and kin who are anxious to explore their roots.

The pipe organ which holds a history of 100 years is in good condition with the assistance of Canon David Whittington and Paul Bell of UK.

- (The above is an excerpt from the church flyer December 2009)

PEX Sketch of POR for camera setup

A very beautiful, untouched (by our corrupt uneducated system of urban development authorities / cultural organizations, who usually prescribe laying 8"x8" white ceramic toilet tiles on floors in ancient temple image houses ). Their are two very beautiful attributes in the complex, The Churchyard and the interior of the Church itself.

Garden:

Here I would like to call it 'garden' and not 'churchyard'. For me the word garden is a blossoming of avenues and secret, hideouts. This place is full of mystery.

A

B

C

D

E

Building:

The exterior façadism is unostentatious and not very inviting; one enters the main hall from the side (west wall) through an old timber door. here one passes a narrow corridor (with solid timber floors, as old as the building) The rose window (which is the british court of arms) burst through with a sharp glare in the morning. The window is too small on the east wall. a larger well proportioned rose window would probably serve the space better. The inner space is taken over by the altar, which is very decorative and forms a gothic arch which encompasses an old marble altar. At the opposite end is a small ornate pew.

F

H

The window are very mysterious and allow mysterious views outwards and allows unusual light into the space. The roof structure is reminiscent of ancient scandinavian roofs which formed over small castles and churches, where the structure seems to be an upturned ship hull.

K

L

PEX = "Personal EXperience; We as tutors for design request that students should always explain their experience when it comes to explanation of other's work. PEX is a fundamental way of learning about ones own honest crit/experience on architecture / design / art etc.