A little bit of England survives just behind the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy Sri Lanka. Not far from Kandy Lake is the British Garrison Cemetery where slightly more than a handful of gravestones are tended by Harshi and his uncle. These two gentlemen rely on tips from visitors to earn a living.

Until the 1990’s the cemetery was overgrown and almost derelict but according to Harshi Prince Charles visited and made a substantial donation to get the graveyard back on its feet.

Harshi is very knowledgeable about the graves, most of the people buried there were either employed by the Ceylon Civil Service or the Army or worked on or owned the tea plantations.

It was clear that most of these graves erected in the 1800’s were filled with young men or their families, life expectancy isn’t what it is today and it was evident that the ex pat British community didn’t always cope well with the heat or tropical diseases. In fact the oldest person that we noticed was only sixty six.

Harshi was keen for us to tell others to visit and I would recommend it particularly if you intend visiting the temple or the lake.