Kenilworth

Kenilworth Overview

Kenilworth Tea Garden is situated in the Central Province in the District of Nuwara Eliya, approximately 102 Kilo Meters from Colombo – the Capital city of Sri Lanka. Kenilworth is the flagship Estate of Watawala Plantations PLC. It would appear that the name KENILWORTH originated from an English background, which is traced to a magnificent Castle situated in Warwickshire, UK. This estate was originally owned and managed by M/s Gorden Frazer & Co. Ltd. The last British Planter to serve on Kenilworth was Mr. W R D Waller. The Planters who served on Kenilworth are:

Few Past Managers’ Detail

Mr. R R D Waller	1947 to 1950	Mr. Anil De Silva	1991 to 1997
Mr. W R Bainz	1950 to 1962	Mr. Mahendra Pilapitiya	1997 to 2000
Mr. Victor St. George	1962 to 1968	Mr. Ajitha de Alwis	2000 to 2002
Mr. A E Anandappa	1968 to 1978	Mr. Alex Samuel	2002 to 2005
Mr. M C B Talwatte	1979 to 1988	Mr. E M K Ambanpola	2005 to 2009
Mr. Kavi Senevirathne	1989 to 1990	Mr. Dinesh Perera	2009 to 2014
Mr. K G S Perera	1990 to 1991	Mr. Manoj Ramdas	Since November 2014

The Estate nestles between two prominent rivers of Sri Lanka “Kelani” & “Mahaweli”. Kenilworth experiences an annual rainfall of approximately 4500 mm spread over 200 days and enjoys the benefits of both the South West and the North East monsoons. Elevation varies from 616 to 640 meters.

FIELD
The total extent of Kenilworth is 603.11 Hect. Of which 295.36 Ha (49%) is planted in Tea. The remaining 51% is under Fuel wood cultivation/Forestry and in grass to be replanted into tea. Of the total extent in Tea 86% is under high yielding vegetatively propagated (VP) tea. The annual production of Kenilworth is around 560,000 kgs of made tea representing a yield of 1900 kgs per hectare.

PROCESSING CENTRE.
Under the Medium Grown category, Kenilworth occupies a prestigious position in the Sale Average and is possibly one of the prime selling marks of Sri Lanka. The Factory is situated at an elevation of 616 meters and carries out an orthodox process of manufacture. The annual production including bought crop is approximately 800,000 kgs made tea. The factory has obtained “Fairtrade Certificate” in July, 2008. (FLO certified producer) Existing Tea factory was built in 1947 having demolished the old Factory built in 1942.

Kenilworth Tea garden, which consists of five Divisions is situated in the Central Province and comes under the District of Nuwara Eliya, and in close to the Ginigathena town.