Edward's Pillar
6°0′59″N 80°14′25″E / 6.01639°N 80.24028°E Edward's Pillar or Galle Tower is a masonry column, which was used as a trigonometrical altitude station, located on the summit of Rumassala Kanda in Unawatuna.[1]
The 15.3 m (50 ft) high column is located upon the hill, 80.4 m (264 ft) above sea level.[2] Originally painted white it also served as a leading navigational mark for vessels entering the western channel into Galle Harbour.[3][4] The pillar was erected in 1875 by W. Burton of the Ceylon Survey Department for trigonometrical work.[1] The station was originally recorded as "Top of Galle Tower or Gibson's Hill near Galle Harbour". Gibson's Hill, now known as Rumassala Kanda,[5] was named after William Carmichael Gibson, the first English Master Attendant of Galle Harbour, who resided on the hill.[1][6]
Some locals, incorrectly, believe that it was erected as a fake lighthouse during World War I or served as a military lookout.[7]
On 6 July 2007, it was formally recognised by the Government as an Archaeological Protected Monument.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Situge, Hemantha (January 2001). "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka". The Galle Tower or Eward's Pillar. 46. Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka: 123-126.
- ^ Great Britain Hydrographic Department (1892). The Bay of Bengal Pilot (pilot guide). Great Britain Hydrographic Department. p. 55-56.
- ^ Findlay, Alexander George (1870). A Directory for the Navigation of the Indian Ocean, with Descriptions of Its Coasts, Islands, Etc: From the Cape of Good Hope to the Strait of Sunda and Western Australia, Including Also the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; the Winds, Monsoons, and Currents, and the Passages from Europe to Its Various Ports. London: Richard Holmes Laurie. p. 848.
- ^ United States Hydrographic Office (1931). Sailing Directions for the West Coast of India from Point Calimere to Cape Monze Including Ceylon, Pamban Pass, and Palk Gulf: Issued Under Authority of the Secretary of the Navy. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 169.
- ^ Ainsworth, William Harrison, ed. (1856). "The New Monthly Magazine". 107. London: Chapman and Hall: 361.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Lewis, John Penry (1913). List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated. Dalcassian Publishing Company. p. 184.
- ^ "The legacy of Unawatuna". Sunday Observer. 15 September 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "Part I : Section (I) — General Government Notifications" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 1505. 6 July 2007.