The Loolecondera estate was the first tea plantation estate in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, established in 1867 by Scotsman

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

. The estate is located southeast of

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

History

The Loolecondera estate was purchased from the Crown by James Joseph Mackenzie in 1841 to establish a coffee plantation. The estate lay between above sea level and was covered in dense forest, which was not cleared for a decade. In October 1852, 17-year-old James Taylor arrived in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, having signed up as an assistant supervisor with George Pride for three years. Upon his arrival he was sent to Loolecondera, under the supervision of a Mr. Williams. By 1857 he was the manager of Loolecondera. Jamestaylor1

In the late 1860s coffee plantations across the island were devastated by the fungal disease ''

Hemileia vastatrix ''Hemileia vastatrix'' is a multicellular basidiomycete fungus of the order Pucciniales (previously also known as Uredinales) that causes coffee leaf rust (CLR), a disease affecting the coffee plant. Coffee serves as the obligate host of ...

,'' also known as

coffee leaf rust ''Hemileia vastatrix'' is a multicellular Basidiomycota, basidiomycete fungus of the order Pucciniales (previously also known as Uredinales) that causes coffee leaf rust (CLR), a disease affecting the Coffea, coffee plant. Coffee serves as t ...

. Coffee plantations were forced to diversify. In 1865 Taylor began experimenting with planting

cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

. In 1865, on the instructions of the owners of the estate, he acquired

Chinese tea Chinese teas can be classified into six distinctive categories: White tea, white, Green tea, green, Yellow tea, yellow, Oolong tea, oolong, Black tea, black and Post-fermented tea, post-fermented. Others add categories for scented and compressed t ...

seeds from the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens; these were planted along the sides of the roads and in the paths through the coffee plantation. In 1867 Taylor cleared of land on the estate and planted the first tea plantation, using Assam hybrid tea seeds. By that time Loolecondera had become the property of Messrs. Harrison and Leake, the partners of the firm of Keir Dundas & Co., Kandy. In 1872, he started a tea factory with his latest invention of the tea leaves cutting machine. He spent most of his life in Loolecondera until his death in 1892. Some of the early equipment used by Taylor at Loolecondera has been relocated and are displayed at the Ceylon Tea Museum, housed in the former

Hanthana The Hanthana Mountain Range lies in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, south-west of Kandy. It was declared as an environmental protection area in February 2010 under the National Environment Act. The maximum height of the range is . The mounta ...

Tea Factory.

Etymology

Loolecondera is a corruption into

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

of the native name "Lool kandura" (ලූල් කඳුර in Sinhala). ''Loolkandura'' means "the stream full of loola fish" ('' Channa striata'').

References

External links

Official Website – Sri Lanka Tea Board
Tea estates in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan tea Archaeological protected monuments in Nuwara Eliya District {{NuwaraEliyaDistrict-geo-stub

History

Etymology

See also

References

External links