The white lighthouse-turned-clock-tower at the heart of the Fort district dates from 1857. It served as Colombo's lighthouse until 1952, when the ships had grown too large and the harbour too busy for a lighthouse in the middle of the commercial district. The light was decommissioned and the tower converted to a clock tower, which it remains. It is one of the few colonial-era structures in the Fort that has not been replaced or overshadowed by office blocks.
The tower stands at the intersection of Chatham Street and Janadhipathi Mawatha, where the old Dutch and British grid of the Fort is still clearly readable. The surrounding streets have some of the finest colonial-era commercial buildings in Colombo, most of them occupied by banks.