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ammenhiel was regarded
as the key to Jaffna. This island stronghold guards the western entrance to the
Jaffna lagoon. The fort was built by the Portuguese in the mid 17th
century & extensively altered and strengthened by the Dutch who specified
that the garrison should be manned by thirty Dutch soldiers & none other.
The fort surrendered to
the British in 1795, without offering any resistance. It was then used as a
jail & hospital; during World War II. It became an air-sea rescue station.
More recently it was used as a public health isolation station for immigrants
from India. The fort is now the property of the department of archaeology
Nelson says, “it
is an extremely attractive looking little fort with its white stone, red roofs,
green trees & sun lightning of the sea. It is also in s particularly good
state of repair.” Van Diessen: in March 1986 it was an excellent condition;
at that time it was not being used.”
Heydt, 1764 describes
it thus, “the fort itself looks very well, although it is not very large,
and in its longest diagonal line has not much over about 80 meters. It has fine
walls, made of good freestones and a pretty gate way on which a little tower of
masonry is erected, with a bell, the ware house is not only well built… but it
is two storey high, and can be well seen in spite of the height of the walls.
Although there would be room enough in the fort, yet the folk have their
kitchen in front of the gate way”. It is only to be regretted that no
trees grow on this island.
This fort has only a
small garrison. It can sweep with its guns effectively the two small arms up to
the island, and no vessel may dare to sail through, without the risk of being
sunk.
Steiger’s delightful
drawings show us two different views of Hammenhiel. The first depicts the fort
when approached by sea form a westerly direction. The palm-fringed shores of
the two islands Karaitivu & Velanai (Kayts) are seen on the
left and right respectively; the Jaffna lagoons is seen it the distance.
The second view shows
the fort from the southeast. The arched entrance gate, over three meters in
height, in clearly depicted as too the small jetty & the little out
buildings to which Heydt refer as the fort’s kitchen.
The views together show
all eight sides of the fort with the gun embrasures and the sentry towers.
Except for the roofs of the two buildings within, which are now of different
shapes, and all the bell-arch above the gate which in no longer there, the
drawings show Hammenhiel exactly as it is today.
