Diyathalawa: Fox Hill and its history

Diyathalawa offers several specific starting points for planning a trip: a landscape with varied terrain, historical connections to the Royal Navy and Ceylon Defence Force, and Fox Hill with its history of its name and its motorsport history. You can first decide what interests you most in a destination: landscapes, historical accounts or motorsport. These highlights give Diyathalawa a distinctive character and help you organise your travel ideas.

A landscape of heights and waterways

Ridges, valleys, gorges, hills and waterways shape Diyathalawa’s landscape. These features range from elevated terrain to ravines and bodies of water, giving a varied impression of the place. This may be a reason to consider Diyathalawa as a destination for its scenery before focusing your trip more specifically on history or motorsport. If children are helping to plan, the specific landforms offer an easy conversation starter: which ones pique their curiosity? This can help you work out together which aspect would make the trip especially appealing.

Military history with different roles

Diyathalawa served as a sanatorium for Royal Navy personnel from the East Indies Station. A military training depot was also established there for many volunteer units of the Ceylon Defence Force of the time. These two historical connections take you from the Royal Navy to the volunteer units and bring different military roles into focus. For families, the distinction makes a good topic of conversation: who was the sanatorium for, and which units were part of the training depot? This makes the town’s history tangible through specific institutions and the people they served.

Fox Hill: the story behind its name and motorsport

According to local accounts, the hill of Fox Hill in Diyathalawa was named after a visit by the crew of HMS FOX in 1913. Boer prisoners of war stationed in Diyathalawa helped place white granite on the hill in the shape of a fox, along with the ship’s name HMS FOX and the year 1913. The story behind the name brings together a ship’s visit, an animal image and an inscription bearing a year. For a conversation with children, it can be broken down into individual questions: who came, what image was placed there, and what year was included? As well as its importance to motorsport, Fox Hill offers a vivid historical story.

The Fox Hill Supercross track was built and is maintained by the Sri Lanka Military Academy; it is located next to Fox Hill. On 21 April 2018, Fox Hill Supercross was held for the 26th consecutive time on the Diyathalawa Fox Hill circuit. The track and the event should be clearly distinguished: the track is beside the hill, while the race took place on the circuit. If you want an event to shape your travel plans, check the date in advance; the edition mentioned here took place in 2018.

Choosing Diyathalawa as a destination

When looking for a holiday rental, it helps to decide first what you would most like to focus on. Are you mainly interested in the terrain, the history of the sanatorium and training depot, or Fox Hill and motorsport? If you are travelling with children, the story behind the name offers a specific conversation starter; the landscape provides another way to explore the place. Those interested in motorsport can consider the dated 2018 edition as a historical reference. Decide which of these topics matters most for your trip, and base your search for a holiday rental in Diyathalawa on that interest.

Discover more destinations: Mahiyanganaya, Mirahawatta, Mahakalugolla, Passara, Arawatta, Boragasketiya, Udawalawe, Thanamalwila.

Back to the main travel overview: Uva Province.