St. Paul's Church

St. Paul's Church stands near the lake on the edge of the temple complex area, a solid neo-Gothic structure built by the British colonial administration in 1843. The interior is modest but cool, with stained glass windows and memorial plaques to British soldiers and administrators. The churchyard is worth a slow walk for its inscriptions.

The church is still active and holds English-language services on Sundays. It is freely accessible most days and makes a quiet contrast to the busy Buddhist sites surrounding it. The gardener is usually around and can often answer basic questions about the history of the graves.

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A story
St. Paul's Church was built in 1843 to serve the British garrison and colonial administration in Kandy. The churchyard contains the graves of British soldiers, officials, and planters who died in Ceylon — many of them young, killed by malaria, dysentery, and other tropical diseases rather than by any conflict. The inscriptions record a steady attrition of administrators and their families that the official histories of the colonial period tend to overlook.

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