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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIII. 



the town, which is bounded on the other side by fine rice fields and 

 some of the most beautiful gardens, producing all kinds of vegetables 

 and flowers. 



The building with the view it commanded is thus described : 



A road only separates our garden from the great rock behind it, 

 which is a delightful shelter in some seasons, and always a beauty.- 

 The front of the building is quite open, and commands a view of the 

 whole cantonment across a small valley. The two sides of the house 

 command the most enchanting view of near and distant mountains, 

 fields, and woods. From the front of the house the garden lies on 

 a slope, and is bounded by another new road. 



The chapel was in the centre of the principal buildings, 

 with rooms at each end, and the whole was finished in the best 

 style and kept in the neatest order. The entire cost was 

 Rds. 3,300. The chapel was opened on the 20th of December, 

 1821, by the Rev. Mr. McKenney, who preached an impressive 

 sermon from Matt, vi., 16, " Thy Kingdom come." The Rev. 

 Robert Newstead was the incumbent. By successive grants 

 the mission premises extended to 321 ft. by about 200 ft. in 

 the widest part. In 1829 Kurunegala was struck off the 

 roll of the Wesleyan Mission, and the premises sold to 

 Government to be utilised as a court-house, reserving its use 

 for divine service whenever required.* 



The chapel evidently stood just above the present Police 

 Court, and a venerable almond tree towers over, and almost 

 covers with its outstretching branches, the site which the 

 chapel and mission house once occupied. At present only a 

 few scanty remnants of the foundation are visible, while the 

 cocoanuts planted by the Rev. Mr. Newstead are now stately 

 palms. There was a quaint slab of rock in the burial 

 ground on the Kandy road, with the inscription " ZION 

 HOUSE, 1821," which doubtless formed part of the doorway 

 of the chapel. 



The Mosque, at the corner of the new road to the tank, as 

 well as St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, is coeval with the 

 Wesleyan Chapel, and is referred to by Casie Chitty. During 



* Hardy's Jubilee Memorials, pp. 146-8. 



