Old Milestones on Sri Lankan Roads
Several old milestones erected during the British colonial period are found preserved in several places around Sri Lanka. The British who established themselves in Sri Lanka replacing the Dutch in 1796 succeeded in annexing the the whole island to the British Empire in 1815 and ruled it until 1948. During this period, they constructed a network of highways and railroads mainly to facilitate administrative functions as well as to transport economic goods. The first set of highways they built connected Colombo to some key cities in the country at the time such as Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Negombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee etc. As part of the road network, mileposts were installed to denote the distance and area in a particular spot. Some of these milestones erected during the British period still remain scattered on roads around the country. Colombo: 1st milestone The first milestone of the Colombo-Galle Road is presently located in …
