In 1795 the British took possession of all the Dutch settlements on the island and in 1801 Ceylon was formed as a separate Crown colony.

628, was formed at Colombo by members of the St. Andrew's Union Lodge, which was attached to the 19th Regiment of Foot.

Masonic meetings at that time were held at the De Soysa Building, in Slave Island.

[2] The temple was designed by Edward Skinner, a Freemason and an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and built by the Colombo Commercial Company.

[3] The Ceylon Independent stated on 2 October 1901: The building was specially designed to meet all the requirements of the various degrees of Masonry which are worked locally.

The hall is brilliantly lit with special gas lamps and altogether no effort or expense has been spared to make the interior as comfortable as possible.On 1 May 1907, the six English masonic lodges were consolidated under the auspices of the District Grand Lodge of Sri Lanka.

In 1914 it was resolved to construct a front porch with a room above on the northern side of the building however due to the outbreak of World War I the works were deferred.