Rev Gaster and Rev Fraser were nothing if not pioneers. At a time when most Europeans were content to build churches in their own Gothic style, Gaster and Fraser were more inspired by the local Sinhalese architecture. Prototypes for this Chapel can be found in the audience halls of at Embekke and Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The difference is that the pillars of these buildings are of wood. At Trinity, inspired by ancient buildings in Anuradhapura, Fraser and Gaster built for Eternity.
“From the seed of an inspiration to a monument built for eternity”
Polonnaruwa: The inspiration from circa 1100 AD
Inspired by Sri Lanka’s exquisite architecture of stone buildings, blue prints were arranged to construct a Chapel of stone pillars.
The floor Plan
South Elevation of the Chapel
Gaster’s drawings allowed for a flat ceiling, like that to be seen in the chancel, and galleries for Choir and organ. Financial and engineering considerations made it difficult for this work to be carried out. Some indeed like the soaring Kandyan roof as it is!
Sketch by Rev Gaster
A sketch with a tall bell tower
Detailed renderings of the interior as envisaged by Rev. Gaster
From two dimensions to three: Rev. L. J. Gaster’s Model
The fifty four pillars are made of granite quarried in Aruppola, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away. Some, in the chancel, are built in sections, but most have been hewn out of single blocks (5.5 metres (18 ft) long and 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) square), each of which weighing about 3 metric tons (3.0 t) before carving. The blocks were then hauled up to the college on a trolley by a pair of elephants. The first pillars to be erected, those by the pulpit and the south entrance, were fully carved at the quarry before being transported. The remainder were carved at the site of the chapel.
Detailed renderings of the interior as envisaged by Rev. Gaster
From two dimensions to three: Rev. L. J. Gaster’s Model
From two dimensions to three: Rev. L. J. Gaster’s Model
The monolithic pillar blocks had to be eighteen feet long and three feet square with no cracks or major blemishes. Each weighed about three tons
Pillars on its way to College
Up the slope to the School on the Hill
Granite blocks being pulled and pushed by elephants
A stone block being unloaded at the construction site of the Chapel
Hard metal wheels and a tree trunk grab pole for the lead elephant
The granite block tied to a wheel cart
A block being pulled up to a wheel cart
The Chapel floor being built
Carvings on granite stone...
...carved by local and South Indian craftsmen
Stone Masons at Work
Pillars being pulled up
Pillars after being erected
The Chapel before the roof was put
A visit from the Planters Association
From behind the Chapel
Two craftsmen standing next to a wooden carving
The West Entrance
The wood carvings
The ‘Pekadas’ wood carvings
Inside the Side Chapel
First pillar to be erected - one near the Side Chapel
The skill and labour involved in raising such a structure with intricate artistic designs, lovingly and
laboriously carved by hand on solid granite and hardwood, was so difficult that it eventually consumed the
efforts of hundreds of individuals and spanned the lives of two and a half generations of Trinitians and
craftsmen.
Since that time, no one in Sri Lanka has even dared to attempt such a mammoth task, even with the help of
modern machinery.