Colombo Fort Research Project

 

The Remains of the Colombo Fort

Research, Documentation and Advocacy for the protection and conservation of the remnants of Colombo’s colonial fortress.

 

Independent research project by H. M. Chryshane Mendis

Colombo was the site of several colonial forts, beginning with the Portuguese in 1518. By the end of the 16^th century, the Portuguese settlement of Colombo had grown into a large fortified city. This city was taken over by the Dutch in the mid-17^th century where they completely redesigned Colombo’s urban layout including the fortifications. The present demarcations of Colombo Fort and Pettah come from the Dutch period, where they built a large fort of nine bastions in the area of now Colombo Fort and a fortified residential town which is now Pettah. While the Dutch removed these Pettah fortifications by the beginning of the 18^th century, the main fort remained and continued to be used into the British period. However by the late 1860s, the British decided on demolishing part of this fort for the improvement of the military barracks. The sections on the west and north were left intact, but which lost their function and gradually became disconnected as the city and port expanded.

Although several sections of the fort survived, knowledge of their collective existence was not known to the general public. My inquiry into the remains of Colombo’s fort began as sheer curiosity in late 2013 when I began to work at the World Trade Center in Fort. Through my inquisitiveness, I had noted down three possible remains of the fort by 2014. As one wall was within the Colombo Port, I asked my cousin brother to get me inside the port to visit and photograph it, which we did in August 2014. I was surprised to the general lack of knowledge of even these three sites and as there were no photographs or details on the internet, I wrote a brief article on these three sites in 2014. Once again in 2015 I came across a photograph from about the 1970s of a section of the walls, which I had not previously seen. This was the turning point in my study on Colombo from just a curious inquiry to a steady study of the fort. Identifying that it was within the Navy headquarters in Fort, I wrote to the Navy Commander in August 2015 seeking permission to enter the Navy headquarters and visit the old wall. Visiting the Navy in September that year, the wall turned out to be a bastion, but there was more, ruins of an old gate and rampart. The Navy officers were very supportive and requested my assistance to properly identify and conserve these as the remains had not been known to the Department of Archaeology. Deciding to write a research paper for the journal of the Archaeological Society of Sri Lanka, I engaged in a proper study of the literature to identify the built history of these remains. By 2016 when I submitted the paper, I had documented seven locations of the remains of the fort. That year I was invited by the Archaeological Society to deliver their June monthly public lecture on my findings of the fort. By the end of that year I was also invited by The National Trust to deliver a lecture which I did in April 2017 and also to write a book on my research. In the meantime I also published a paper in an international journal on the remains of Colombo.

Having taken on the task for writing a research book, I decided to conduct proper surveys of the remains and a thorough historical study of the built history of the forts of Colombo. Between 2017 and 2019 I visited the Colombo Port and Navy headquarters many times to document the sites as well as coordinating visits for relevant stakeholders. I was constantly engaged with officials from the Sri Lanka Navy for the protection of the remains within their compound which also resulted in two lectures to their officers as well in January 2018. I also gave two television interviews in 2018 regarding my research. I have since informed all relevant stakeholders of the conditions of the remains and lobbied for their conservation to which I continue to do so. My yet unpublished book would serve as the complete research report on the history and documentation of the remains.

My key inputs and activities

Identification and Documentation:

The Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka by W. A. Nelson which was originally published in 1984 was the only published work detailing what remained of the Dutch fort of Colombo in the early-mid 20^th century. In it Nelson only gives details in five brief points. The extant to which they had survived and the current status were unknown. Further it was observed that this information was not widely known (as seen from above). Since 2015 I have undertaken photographic and architectural surveys of all the remains to examine their current state of preservation. The sites were identified using archival plans, satellite imagery, old photographs and field walking. The surveys were conducted by taking measurements of the surface remains and noting their current state of preservation supplemented by photographic evidence. Architectural drawings were made for selected features to better elaborate their status. My published papers and documents on these remains serve as the only published works on this topic. 

Research:

Research on the built history of these sites together with the overall built history of the fortress, from its origins by the Portuguese down to its partial demolition by the British. My upcoming monograph would serve as the only book of its kind which would be a documentation and spatial-historical analysis of the fortifications of Colombo by the Portuguese and Dutch including the documentation of the remains.  See below list of publications.

Advocacy for public discourse:

As stated before, the knowledge that remnants of Colombo’s fort still existed was scars amoung the general public and that too not collectively. Hence apart from the academic publications and the public lectures which I was invited to deliver, I have published details of the remains in various media. As I wished to reach out to the larger general audience, I produced articles documenting the remains and their history in online websites and in print media (see below). Apart from the articles, I used social media to constantly engage with the public by participating in discussions and with regular social media posts. Much of the photographs too have been shared widely. As part of my advocacy work, I called out for volunteers via social media to survey the remains to which many turned up and we conducted surveys in November and December 2017. Since then I have observed several discussions, comments and writings referring to the remains (stemming from my writings).

Advocacy for conservation:

Having published the results of my initial survey as a journal article in 2016, I wrote officially to the Department of Archaeology in March 2017 as much of these remains were not known to the officials. I addressed the letter dated 2^nd March 2017 to the Asst. Director of the Western Province Mr. Mahinda Karunatilake advocating for a conservation plan; to this letter I attached my research paper together with a CD containing all archival maps and my photographs of the ruins. I also met the Director-General Prof. Mandawala in September 2018 in an official appointment and presented to him my findings. In July 2018 I coordinated a field visit for officers of the Central Cultural Fund and Archt. Pali Wijeratna of Environmental Planning Services (Pvt) Ltd for a proposed conservation project. Again in July 2019 I met some officers of the CCF and provided more documents for the proposed project, which they said had been delayed.