( 59 ) 
Both the masonry and the woodwork are 
solid and substantial, and alto.a;ether tliese 
two buildings and the church at Galle contras'.s 
favourably with churches erected in the Is- 
land at a later period for the use of the Angli- 
can Church.* 
The writer has not visited Batavia, but 
Heydt.t who visited India, Ceylon, and 
Batavia about 1736, and made sketches oC 
the principal Dutch forts and other build- 
ings in those countries, gives a drawing 
and plan of the Dutch Church at Batavia 
which show a large classical building of a 
design which I should consider creditable 
for the place at and period in which the 
church was erected, with a central dome of 
good proportions. Possibly this church is 
not now in existence, but in any case I 
should say the opinion quoted has been 
formed on insufficient data. 
The Jaffna church is situated within the 
walls of the fort. Its quaint gables, belfry, 
central tower, large two-light windows, with 
a circular opening above the lights under 
a general arch, giving it a touch of Roman- 
esque, make it very picturesque, especially 
when seen over the fort wall and moat. The 
central tower of the VVolvendahl church 
seems atone time to have partially collapsed, 
and is now like that of the Jaffna church, 
rather squat. It is topped with a slated 
roof of modern coustructioa. Judging from 
Heydt's picture, the tiled roof 'of the Jaffna 
church tvas in his time more spire like than 
it is at present, and the apex was surmounted 
by the conventional cock, which remained, 
in fact until well on in the last century. 
The Colombo and Galle Churches are still 
in regular use by congregations of the Dutch 
Reformed Church, though the Dutch lan- 
guage has been forgotten. The Jaffna 
Church belongs to the Government, which 
preserves it for its antiquarian interest. The 
church at Batticotta is of a ditferent type 
altogether from these churches. It con- 
sists of a long nave with side a.isles 
all under one roof, the aisles divided 
internally from the nave by massive 
pillars of masonrj', eight or ten on each 
side and over a yard in diameter. A 
• The pulpits are of tlie usual Iiexagonal or octag- 
onal shape, those at VVolvendahl and Galle being 
attached tooneofthe walls, and that at Jaffna 
springing out of a centidl cohunn. (Tiie photo- 
graph. Fig. I'J, does not show this, as the column 
is hidden by the precentor's or clerk's desk in 
front of it ; but this two-decker arrangement 
may be an addition made in Anfjlican times, as 
are the altar rails, Wolvendahl has a quaint 
crown-shaped soanding-board. The organ j^aller- 
ies at Galle and Jaffna have a very Dutch look 
about them. That at Galle is at tl;e " west " end 
and is a regular gallery (Fig. 11). That at Jalfua 
(Fig. 10) is a platform supported by heavy turned 
legs, and having a panelled front with a carved 
woollen valance. The centre panel is p, representa- 
tion of King David harping ; this is painted in 
different colours. 
t "AUerneuster Geographisch und Topngra 
phischer Schau-Platz von Africa und Ost-Iiulien. ' 
Von Johanu Woltl'gang Heydt, Willhermsdor" 
17H. 
Dutch inscription over the doorway gives 
the date as 1678; but this is probably the 
date of the repair or rebuilding by the 
Dutch of the church. I am inclined to think 
from the plan, that this is one of the old 
Portuguese churches of the Jaffna Peninsula. 
The inscription runs : (" Doen maken door 
den Heer Commandeur Laurens Pyl, Anno 
1678.") This may refer to the rebuilding 
only. The facade is apparently Dutch. 
This departure of the Dutch from the 
meeting house model in their churches* is 
no doubt due to the fact that in their 
beloved Netherlands they were accustomed 
to worship in large medieval churches, 
shorn, it is true, of most of their orna- 
mental details, such as tracery, carved 
work, and painting, and adapted to the 
Reformed worship, but still in the main 
preserving their most characteristic features- 
nave, choir transepts, and tower, elaborate 
pulpit and sounding boards, stalls, organ, 
and organ gallery. When their merchants 
and officials in the E;ist had to provide 
themselves with churches, they made them 
as like as possible in form to the churches 
of their native land, preserving at least the 
main features and plan, if not the details, of 
mediceval architecture. In an age which was 
incapable ^ any where in Europe of building 
in true Gothic, it could hardly be expected 
that the Dutch in the East could have 
done more than they did. The churches 
at Colombo, Jaffna and Batavia com- 
pare favourably with many churches of the 
same size erected in England at the same 
period t and they had, if anything, less of 
the meeting-house type about them. 
The most characteristically Dutch church 
in Ceylon, perhaps, is the church at Galle. 
It is of quasi-cruciform shape, with very 
shallow transepts, but it is the gables that 
give it its distinctively Dutch appearance. 
They are the best examples of the Dutch 
gable to be found in Ceylon, The gables of 
the Jaffna church are not of so markedly a 
Dutch shape, while those of the Wolvendahl 
church are more of the ordinary Renaissance 
or Italian character. 
This introduces me to the subject of the 
Dutch gable, by which I mean the gable with 
a wavy outline which one has come to asso- 
ciate with Dutch domestic architecture. 
The work to which I have referred at the 
beginning of this article contains a chapter 
by Mr Herbert Baker, a.r i.b.a., the archi- 
* Whether the Batticotta Church is Portu- 
guese or Dut^h in plan, it, as well as the other 
three churches mentioned, is certainly a de- 
parture from this midel, which regards a church 
merely as a preaching room. The American 
Mission report complains of the Batticotta Church 
that, " The massive pillars which make so brave 
a show hide the speaker from a considerable 
part of the room {sic), and are about as niueii 
a hindrance as a help." Accordingly, it has 
been mule as nnich like a meeting house as 
possible. 
t The Church at TafTna bears the date 1706, that 
at Wolvendahl, 1749. Tlie Galle Church was 
probably built about 17oo. 
