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Douglas Castle, Hong Kong
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University Hall, (Chinese: 大學堂) or UHall, is a
historical residential hall for males at the University of Hong Kong.
University Hall is one of the oldest residential halls under the
university's hall system and houses about 110 students. Its hall colours
are green, black and silver. It is located at 144 Pok Fu Lam Road, close
to the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir within the Pok Fu Lam Country Park on the
western side of Hong Kong Island.
The building itself dates back
to 1861 when a wealthy Scottish trader named Douglas Lapraik built the
Douglas Castle as the place of his residence. University Hall was
formally established in 1954 after the University of Hong Kong bought
the heritage building from the French Mission in Hong Kong, and the
castle was officially named as the University Hall and opened as a male
residential hall in 1956.
The Douglas Castle
The castle
itself was established by Douglas Lapraik, a Scottish trader who made
his wealth with shipbuilding and dock renting. Douglas talent for
business opportunities soon made him one of the richest people in Hong
Kong at his time and inspired him to improve his living conditions in
line with the standards of a Tai Pan in Hong Kong. In 1860, Douglas had
heard about the government's plans to build a water reservoir and park
on the island's south-western part at the valley around Pok Fu Lam. The
reservoir was a solution to the emergent problem of clean water supply
in Hong Kong. Pok Fu Lam Road soon developed as the connection of the
Western district to the smaller harbour of Hong Kong in Aberdeen, where
Douglas planned to set up his docks. In 1861, he bought the 900 square
meter hill, which includes the location of today's University Hall, the
High West and tennis courts. During 1861–1867, Douglas built the Douglas
Castle, to overlook his fleet entering and leaving the harbor. The gross
building area of the castle was around 2000 square feet, which was a
two-story structure, located at today's Warden Flat. In 1866, Douglas
returned to Great Britain and the castle was inherited by his nephew,
John Steward Lapraik.
Douglas Castle under the French Mission
(1894-1954)
In 1894, Hong Kong was declared to be an infected port of
the bubonic plague. The killing spree of the plague claimed thousands of
lives and forced about half of the population hastily leave Hong Kong.
John Douglas Steward, who was managing the castle after his father John
Steward Lapraik died in 1893, had no option, but to sell the castle to
the French Mission, who were some of the few who remained in Hong Kong.
The building soon turned into a monastery and got renamed, Nazareth.
After the plagues were sat out, Nazareth went through a major renovation
under the leadership of Father Monnier, who enlarged the building with a
printing house that operated one of the busiest bible printing and
translation facilities of the early 20th century in Asia.
During
World War I, Nazareth was used as the training base of Royal Hong Kong
Regiment (The Volunteers). During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong,
Douglas Castle was confiscated by the Japanese army and used as the
headquarters of kempeitai and residence for workers of the Japanese dock
in Aberdeen. After Second World War came to an end in 1945 the castle
was returned to the French Mission and the printing press resumed
operations in 1948.
However, with the establishment of the
People's Republic of China in 1949, it became difficult for overseas
missionaries to penetrate the mainland. By the early 1950s, most of the
foreign missionaries were forced to leave their stations in Mainland
China. Hong Kong as a base for missionary work into the greater China
area became increasingly unfeasible. In the coming years, Nazareth
closed down. The government, which considered the castle for numerous
purposes, finally decided to grant the building to the University of
Hong Kong. On 4 December 1954 the building got transferred from the
French Mission to the university at a price of HK$1,600,000.
The
University's proposal of turning Nazareth into a male dormitory was in
line with the French Mission, and the transferral went smoothly. The
abandoned printing workshop was demolished and turned into the carpark.
The chapel and the crypt were transformed into the dining hall and
common room respectively. In 1956 the first group of about 52 students,
from Eliot Hall, Morrison Hall, and Lugard Hall settled in the castle
writing a new page of the Castle' history called University Hall.
Today, the castle on top of Pok Fu Lam hill reminds on the colonial
days of Hong Kong. It increased its capacity to hold students to about
110 residents at a time. Over the history of the Hall, the castle had
provided shelter for so far over 2000 men.
The discipline of
early University Hall was very strict. Hallmates were required to report
to the warden when they leave the hall or spend their nights at home,
and hallmates had to wear green gowns during dinner. At that time, High
Table Dinner was held every Monday, and the canteen was operated in the
form of a tuck shop. Hallmates at that time were enthusiastic in
activities of the Hong Kong University Students' Union, in the first 12
years of University Hall's history, 8 out of 12 Presidents of the Union
was from University Hall. In the early days, many hallmates were
international students with talents in sports. Hockey team had
outstanding performances in those days, claiming Inter-hall Champion for
several times, helping University Hall to win the Malayan Cup in 1966
and 1968. Hallmates will attend all interhall competition and cheer for
the athletes, they will do a War Cry if University Hall had claimed the
championship, these traditions are kept until today.
The design
of the Douglas Castle was greatly influenced by English Tudor
architecture and gothic styles. The registered site area counted about
310,227 square feet. When completed around 1867, the single-storey
compound provided an octagonal penthouse bedroom that faced directly the
sea and being surrounded by hill and the nearby water reservoir, the
villa also included a side house and a rectangular outhouse. With the
change in ownership to the French Missionaries in 1894, a new wing, a
chapel and printing house on the north-eastern was erected in accordance
with the existing style under the architects Danby, Leigh, and Orange to
meet the development of the Commission. The other part of the building
substantially rebuilt to a 3-floor compound. Only the side towers and
parts of the fundamentals remained original.
When the castle
turned into "University Hall" in 1954, The University architecture
lecturer Donald Liao, was given the task to rearrange the internal
designs, partitions, and furniture. the high chapel got converted into a
dining hall and the crypt became a common room. The Hall has now a large
residence area for the Hall Warden on the position of the penthouse
bedroom, staff quarters and about 33 rooms for students. On 7 September
1995, the Building was taken under the protection of the Antiquities and
Monuments Ordinance and declared a monument.
Eee also:
•
Douglas Steamship
Company
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Source
Sources for this article include:
University Hall, Hong Kong
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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