Dawson Tower at Kadugannawa

Dawson Tower rises beside the old road at Kadugannawa, close to the mountain pass where the Colombo–Kandy route begins its final approach to the hill capital. The monument honours Captain William Francis Dawson of the Royal Engineers, who surveyed and supervised the difficult road-building work that began in 1820. Dawson died in 1829 before the project was finished, and colleagues later chose this prominent point for his memorial. The plain white column is best understood together with the steep pass, old road and nearby rock tunnel—the landscape that explains why the engineering achievement mattered.