Queen’s Tower

Standing quietly on the southeastern tip of Neduntheevu — more widely known as Delft Island — Queen's Tower is one of the more enigmatic remnants of British colonial rule in northern Sri Lanka. Built as a trigonometric survey point and a navigation aid for ships operating in the shallow, reef-laced waters of the Palk Strait, it is modest in scale yet significant in what it tells us about how the British mapped and managed this remote corner of the island.

What is Queen's Tower and why was it built?

Queen's Tower (Tamil: குவீன்ஸ் டவர், also referred to locally as Quindah Tower) was constructed by the British colonial administration during their period of rule in Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then known. Its primary purpose was geodetic: surveyors would climb to the top and set up a theodolite or similar instrument to take precise angular measurements of the surrounding landscape and coastline. This kind of trigonometric survey work was fundamental to the production of accurate British Ordnance-style maps of the island.

A secondary function was to serve as a navigation reference point for ships entering and leaving the area during daylight hours — hence its classification as a diurnal, or daytime, light navigation point. It was not a conventional lighthouse in the modern sense.

Was Queen's Tower ever used as a lighthouse?

A persistent local theory holds that Queen's Tower functioned as a lighthouse, with a fire lit at the base creating an updraft that forced light upward through the tower's chimney-like interior tube, making it visible to sailors at sea. It is a compelling image, but historians and survey records do not support this account. The tower's design aligns far more closely with trigonometric pillars constructed at other British survey stations across South Asia than with any lighthouse technology of the period.

That said, the theory illustrates how genuinely unusual the structure looks to the untrained eye: narrow, tall, and hollow — perfectly suited, in imagination at least, to acting as a beacon.

What happened to King's Tower?

Queen's Tower did not stand alone. A companion structure known as King's Tower was also operated during the British period on or near Delft Island. Whereas Queen's Tower remains largely intact, King's Tower has not fared as well: only its basement survives today. Together, the two towers likely formed part of a triangulation network used to establish precise coordinates across the northern coastline and into the waters beyond.

Where exactly is Queen's Tower located?

The tower stands on Neduntheevu, the Tamil name for Delft Island, which lies in the Palk Strait off the Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka's Northern Province. The island is accessible by ferry from Kurikadduwan, near Point Pedro, and is part of the Jaffna Islands group. Delft Island itself is notable for several unusual features — wild ponies descended from Dutch-era stock, a baobab tree of uncertain antiquity, and extensive coral walls built by early settlers — making Queen's Tower one attraction among several on a genuinely offbeat destination.

What else can visitors see on Delft Island?

Queen's Tower tends to be visited as part of a broader exploration of Delft Island rather than as a standalone destination. Visitors typically combine it with:

• The feral horse herds that roam freely across the flat, scrubby terrain
• The remains of a Dutch-era fort near the island's northern shore
• Ancient coral-stone walls that crisscross the island's interior
• The Pigeon Island marine national park, which lies to the south and is reachable from Trincomalee for those combining a northern and eastern Sri Lanka circuit
• A large banyan tree, sometimes described as one of the oldest on the island

The island has no hotels or restaurants, so day-trip logistics require planning. Carry food, water, and sun protection — shade is minimal across most of the flat landscape.

How do you get to Delft Island from Jaffna?

From Jaffna city, travellers typically drive or take a taxi to Kurikadduwan ferry point, a journey of around 40 kilometres. From there, a government-operated passenger ferry crosses to Delft Island. The crossing takes roughly one hour. Ferry schedules are limited, so it is essential to confirm departure times in advance and plan the return trip carefully, as missing the last ferry back leaves no overnight accommodation options on the island.

The road journey from Colombo to Jaffna takes around six to seven hours by car or bus, or the train service on the Northern Line provides a scenic and historically significant alternative.

Is Queen's Tower worth visiting?

For travellers with a genuine interest in colonial history, surveying heritage, or the quieter, less-visited corners of Sri Lanka, Delft Island as a whole — and Queen's Tower within it — offers something that most tourist itineraries miss entirely. The Northern Province has been far more accessible since the end of the civil conflict, and visitor numbers remain low relative to the south and centre of the island. That relative solitude is part of the appeal.

The tower itself is a simple structure with no interpretation panels or visitor facilities. What gives it meaning is context: understanding that the British systematically mapped every coastline, every headland, and every navigable channel of Ceylon, and that this quiet column of stone or brick was one node in that vast imperial project of measurement and control.

Practical information for visitors