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When planning the layout of the School, one
of the first spots Mr. Keble decided on was the site for the
Chapel, on the top of the hill where, as he said, it would
stand up like a beacon and be seen from all sides. The temporary
Chapel was in one of the rooms of the first building - Wijewardane
House. We had set aside the offertories at the Chapel services
to be the beginning of a “Chapel Fund” but some
of this had to be used for fitting up the temporary Chapel,
as.the things sent up by the Navy did not include seats. Cannon
Boteju who was Vicar of the Bandarawela Church, and acted
as School Chaplain dedicated this Chapel in 1946.
Mr. Keble and some of the boys and staff cleared
and levelled the site for the permanent Chapel, even the Kindergarten
doing their share: In the first term of 1956 the large block
of classrooms on the top of the hill was opened and the office
and Headmaster’s room were moved from Wijewardane House
to the new building and the Chapel was transferred to the
vacated part of Wijewardane House, which was slightly larger
than the one previously in use. Mr. Keble had prepared plans,
and beautiful pencil drawings of the Chapel he hoped to built
on the permanent site. These, sad to say, mysteriously vanished
shortly after he left Ceylon.
These plans would have been too expensive to
carry out in detail, under the present conditions, so have
been slightly modified, but the general character of the plan
has been retained. Thanks to many generous donations in money
and in materials, from parents and friends of the school,
we were able to have the laying of the foundation stone on
St. Michael’s Day 1959, when the Bishop of Colombo came
and officiated at the ceremony. It was a beautiful service,
and the Bishop of Kurunegala, a very old friend of Mr. Keble
as they were fellow students at Oxford, and many clergy and
members of the local congregations were present.
There have been many delays and hindrances but
at last to our great joy we have realized our dream, and have
a real place of worship, more worthy of its purpose. “A
Chapel set on a hill” where services can be held in
a proper atmosphere of quiet and reverence undisturbed by
incoming cars, and other school traffic. Our great regret
is that Mr. and Mrs. Keble are not able to see it and rejoice
with us.
We are thankful to Mr. E.C.R. Schockman who
drew up the plans for the Chapel and Mr. K.C. Bartholomeusz,
one of our parents and a good friend of the school, who supervised
the building of the Chapel till he left Ceylon to settle down
in Australia last July.
We are thankful to Mr. L.B. Werapitiya, one
of our parents, who made available the satin timber necessary
for the doors and window frames.
We are deeply grateful to Mr. S.C.Fernando who
built the Bandarawela Town Hall, for rapidly coming to our
aid, when the original contractor disappointed us. Mr Fernando
and his able assistant Mr.W.J. Kulasiri of Moratuwa have spared
no pains in completing this beautiful edifice. It has been
a labour of love for them.
Our grateful thanks are due to the numerous
friends and parents, members of the staff and pupils who have
contributed liberally towards the building and furnishing
of the Chapel.
The above article on the Chapel
of the Good Shepherd was first published in the School Magazine
of 1961
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The
dedication of the School Chapel on Tuesday 7th November
(1961) marked an important landmark in the history of the
School. When in 1942 the School buildings in Colombo were
taken over by the Navy, the whole boarding house had to
be moved to Bandarawela, where Mr. Keble had just opened
the Up-country branch in a rented bungalow, which is now
occupied by Messrs. Walker Sons & Co. Ltd. Everything
was extremely make shift as we were not able to bring any
of the School furniture from Colombo, owing to the absence
of transport, both railway and road refusing to carry our
goods. A year later, when the School moved down the hill
to the bungalow that Mr. Hulugalle so very generously lent
us to house the rapidly growing School, the Navy sent up
a lorry load of odds and ends of School furniture, which
included that of the Chapel. At first we had only a mud
walled, earthen-floored shed which was our Chapel. A little
later, Mr. Keble bought a large steel- framed and tagaram-walled
cattle shed, which was put upon Mr. Hulugalle’s land
near the bungalow, and divided into Chapel, Office, Classrooms
and a tiny two-roomed flat for Mr. & Mrs. Keble. 
