The Portuguese occupied the fort and under the command of Don Jerónimo de Azevedo rebuilt it in their own style, mostly consisting of earth ramparts, in 1597.

[1] It was captured by the Dutch, who constructed a star-shaped fort using kabook (a local laterite rock), completing the work in 1684.

[3] In 1797, shortly after the British occupied the lowlands, a rebellion broke out and sepoys of the 35th Madras Regiment were besieged within the walls of the Hanwella fort and took casualties.

In 1803 during the first British-Kandyan War, Kandyan forces, under Pilima Talauva, attacked the fort which was commanded by Lieutenant Charles Mercer on 3 September.

On 17 December 1875 the then Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, stopped at the rest house and planted a jack tree on the site to commemorate his visit to Sri Lanka.