Old Kalutara and Lorenz

By Avishka Mario Senewiratne

“There is an old Sinhalese saying that ‘happy is the man who is born at Matara and bred at Kalutara.’ Lorenz must have been happy that he was born at Matara and had his well-known holiday home at Kalutara.”- E. H. Van der Waal

Kalutara, 28 miles south of Colombo is perhaps one of the most underrated regions in Sri Lanka. One of my first memories of this palm-fringed coastal city from an aerial view was the thousands of coconut trees, the fabulous Kalu Ganga flowing to the ocean, and the mighty Kalutara Bodhiya as well as old Churches built by European missionaries. The Portuguese realized the strategic and military importance of Kalutara (Caltura as it was known then) and built a fort between 1620 and 1623 demolishing the ancient Gangathilaka Vihare. (see Illustrations and Views of Dutch Ceylon, p. 205).

This was an assignment taken by General Jorge d’Alburquerque. The land of the fort was a hillock on the southern bank of Kalu Ganga. After the Portuguese were ousted, the Dutch under General Gerard Hulft captured Kalutara. The Dutch took a greater interest in this Fort and its environs. Christopher Schweitzer, a German working for the VOC, stated in 1682 that he was one of the 30 soldiers involved in adding ramparts to Kalutara in 1677. In 1672, the Dutch predikant Baldeus noted that “… the Fortress of Caltura situated in a most lovely locality lies near the mouth of a large and broad river close by the sea. This defence is strongly built with double earthen walls…”

Governor Ryckloff Van Goens Sr. took Kalutara more seriously and was assigned to build a road from Kalutara to Colombo, “along which eight men could march abreast, taking with them field guns.” In 1744, Dutch traveler J. W. Heydt commented on the great progress of cinnamon cultivation in Kalutara. In 1796, the Kalutara fort was ceded by British troops under General Stuart.

After many years of disuse, the Kalutara Fort premises were used as the residence of the Government Agent of Kalutara in 1915. In the early 1960s, this land was taken over by the Kalutara Bodhi Trust and a dagoba was erected after nearly 400 years. Many British individuals who served and lived in Ceylon during the 18th century wrote a manifold of books initially targeting the English audience, who was known to be curious about the new British colony.

Captain Robert Percival writes a great detail about Kalutara in his An Account of an Island in 1803. He reveals that the old fort was dilapidated by that time. He makes a special note of the hunting of wild animals, especially fox in Kalutara. Percival writes: “From Pantura (Panadura) to Caltura, a distance of ten miles, the whole country may be considered as one delightful grove; and the road has entirely the appearance of a broad walk through a shady garden… the grateful refreshment such a road affords to a traveller in this sultry climate, can only be conceived by those who have passed from Columbo to Caltura”. (pp. 125-126)

Rev. James Cordiner comments on Kalutara in his 1807 Description of Ceylon: “Here is a small fortification raised upon a mount, commanding the banks of a beautiful river… a neat village, chiefly in one street, built of stone on thatched roofs, inhabited by native Cingalese, and black descendants of native Portuguese. The climate is cool, the place is rural and the situation pleasant.” (p. 174)

Engraving of Kalutara by Baldeus, 1672

Major Jonathan Forbes writes in his Eleven Years in Ceylon, on Kalutara on his way to Colombo, “There is considerable variety of ground and scenery.” (1840, part II, p. 167)

Sir James Emerson Tennent wrote: “Caltura has always been regarded as one of the sanitaria of Ceylon, and as it faces the sea breeze from the south-west, the freshness of its position, combined with the beauty and grandeur of the surrounding scenery, rendered it the favourite resort of the Dutch, and afterwards of the British… from the great extent of the coconut groves which surround it, Caltura is one of the principal places for the distillation of Arrack.” (Tennent, part II, p. 659)

One of the first prominent Europeans to build a country residence in Kalutara was John Rodney, the Colonial Secretary.

Teak Bungalow

Extending up to nine acres and resting on the banks of Kalu Ganga, this opulent property was originally called ‘Mount Layard’. It belonged to Charles Edward Layard (1787-1852), C.C.S., father of Sir C. P. Layard, Government Agent of the Western Province. Layard married a Dutch Burgher lady called Barbara Bridgetina Mooyart. They bore 26 children of which 21 survived infancy. The Layards occupied this house between the years 1808 and 1814, when Charles Layard was the Collector for Kalutara (See Toussaint, J. R., (1935), Annals of the Ceylon Civil Service, p. 59). While residing in Kalutara, Layard and James Anthony Mooyart attempted to cultivate sugar cane. However, the experiment was futile.

J. W. Bennet comments on this in his monumental 1843 tome Ceylon and its Capabilities as follows: “These gentlemen introduced the culture of the sugar cane, but upon too extensive a scale for a first experiment; and, owing to the quantity of iron with which the soil there is almost everywhere impregnated, were unsuccessful.” (p. 34) When Rev. Reginald Heber, the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta visited Ceylon in 1825 he lodged in this house for a few days. Heber wrote the following in his journal:

“Culture, where in a very pretty bungalow belonging to Mr. Layard, commanding a beautiful view of the river and sea we breakfasted’

Commenting on the view of Kalu Ganga from Mount Layard, J. W. Bennet wrote the following in Ceylon and its Capabilities:

“The view from Mount Layard, the country residence of Charles Edward Layard, Esq., on the left bank of the river, is beautiful; but one scarcely knows which of the two reaches of the river to admire most:—the old fort, an island, and the open sea over the sandy ridge, make the view down the river the finest, but for the Indian impression given by the areka trees and coco-nut topes;—but the mellow richness of the scenery up the river towards Gal-Pata, would, to a Cockney, appear a Richmond Hill style of beauty, and of course be in his eyes the most interesting.” (p. 375)

A few years after Layard died in 1852, Lorenz who was by then well-off owing to a sound legal practice purchased “Mount Layard” and re-named it “Teak Bungalow”. This was obviously due to the large number of teak trees on the property. Lorenz bought the adjoining properties bearing coconut trees and paddy fields along with this compound. He named his nephew Edwin Poulier as Superintendent. Poulier was known to have done a good job with the estate. Annually for about six weeks during the Easter recess, Lorenz lodged in Teak Bungalow.

Here he dispensed hospitality and entertained his many friends. Among those friends who visited Lorenz frequently at the Teak Bungalow were two Van Cuylenbergs. One of them, a medical doctor was the father of Sir Hector Van Cuylenberg. Proctor F. S. Thomasz of Kalutara was another frequent visitor. Apart from hosting them, Lorenz would often invite them to shooting parties. In the August 1933 issue of The Ceylon Causerie, E. H. Van der Wall records an interesting statement by an old resident who recalled Lorenz quite well:

“Lorenz frequently visited ‘Teak Bungalow’ for weekends, travelling by stages in his charabanc with two gray horses, and accompanied by a multitude of nephews and nieces. Almost invariably on the day of arrival a lady, who was previously notified, supplied a string-hopper breakfast. This breakfast was served in the large dining room and the guests were seated on mats used for drying paddy. Lorenz also sat on a mat at the head of the party. No knives, spoons or forks were used at the repast, the use of fingers being de rigueur.”

The wedding reception of Padikara Mudaliyar in 1910 at the Teak Bungalow

The walls of the Teak Bungalow were adorned by sketches of various people by Lorenz himself. These included District Judge Christoffels de Saram and Dr. Van Cuylenberg. Another interesting story centered around Lorenz is that on one occasion he appeared successfully for a native doctor called Haltota Veda. As a result, the native doctor who was grateful to Lorenz, cultivated his field by the Teak Bungalow for free. On a later occasion, Haltota Veda was made an Arachchi on the recommendation of Lorenz to the Government Agent C. P. Layard. While being lodged here, Lorenz completed his third volume of the Law Reports (Lorenz was the pioneer of writing law reports in Sri Lanka). While suffering various ailments in the latter part of his life, Lorenz came to the Teak Bungalow on several occasions in the belief of recovery from the far-famed climate. Foxes were plentiful around the Teak Bungalow compound and they would often destroy crops and fruit-bearing trees. Observing this Lorenz sketched the following poem:

One Emma and two Alices
Leaving pleasures and palaces,
Are observing Edward Poulier
Shooting at a Vowlia

Teak Bungalow was put on sale after the untimely death of Lorenz in 1872. However, until a buyer was found, this house was rented as the official residence of the Assistant Government Agent of Kalutara. When an attempt by the Government to acquire the Teak Bungalow failed, the Appeal Court held that the property was not required for a public purpose (See The Ceylon Causerie, August 1933, p. 12). Sometime later the business tycoon nicknamed ‘Plumbago King’, N. D. P. Silva purchased the Teak Bungalow and used it as his country house (Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, pp. 591-594). N. D. P. Silva’s son was the Padikara Mudaliyar N. D. Arthur Silva Wijesinghe, who built the Richmond Castle in Kalutara. The reception for his wedding took place at the Teak Bungalow in 1910. This esteemed and popular abode of some of Ceylon’s most celebrated personalities does not exist anymore. In the 1930s the premises of the former Teak Bungalow housed an Excise Warehouse.