On 25 September 1871, a meeting was held in Dimbula chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Piers Claughton.

Plans were them made to raise money for the construction of the churches and the provision for a chaplain's stipend.

Two sites were selected with one at Lindula and the other on top of a small knoll on the Forest Creek Estate, a coffee plantation in Kotagala.

The foundation stone for the church was laid in 1876 and was based on plans supplied by a London architect.

John Kemp, who came to Ceylon from State of Sarawak in Borneo, where he had been a chaplain and a missionary under the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) for three years.