St. Thomas’ Church Ginthupitiya celebrates 210 years

CLAIMED to be the first church here at home, specifically built for Anglican worship in 1815, St. Thomas’ Church Ginthupitiya celebrates its 210 eventful years tomorrow, with a lineup of special events. The first Divine Service at the Church was held on 16 July, 1815.

- ByRANDIMAATTYGALLE

Reflecting the Gothic style of architecture and nestled amidst flowers and foliage in the hustling Ginthupitiya, off Kotahena, St. Thomas Church stands on a little hillock built on grounds where a Roman Catholic church once stood during the Portuguese times. Rev. Fr. D.K. Balakrishnan is the present Vicar of the St. Thomas’ Church.

Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg is credited for the erection of the present church (his name is inscribed on the west front wall of the church), the foundation of which was laid in 1815interestingly in the same year when the Kandyan Convention was signed, marking the ceding of the kingdom’s territory to the British crown.