Field Trip: Kellie's Castle

As the sun was shining brightly, sweat trickled on my forehead. Braving the hot sun to accomplish my mission of exploring the origins of Kellie Castle which is located about 30 kilometres south west of Ipoh, in a tranquil town called Batu Gajah. My heart was pounding in nervousness as this is the first time I’m setting foot on this area. During the journey here, I was mesmerized by the soothing view that came to me. This place was a little heaven located in the bustling city, as there was lush greenery surrounding me, giving me the feeling of peace and joy.

When I arrived, I was in awe. The sight that I behold was too much to take. Who could have believed that in such a modern age of concrete and pillars, lays a hidden treasure from the colonial times unfazed by the changes of modernization. I was looking at one of the most historical place in Malaysia, the Kellie’s Castle. This unfinished mansion sends waves and waves of shock crashing into me. I could not help but wonder why I am feeling such creeps in my body. The hair behind my neck was standing.

As I walked towards the mansion, I could not take my eyes off this beautiful piece of masterpiece. Although it is not completed, it gives me a sense of forbidding, as I felt a cold shiver running down my spine. I kept reminding myself, the legend of this castle being haunted by the lost soul of William Kellie Smith and his beloved daughter, Helen roaming around freely to haunt the forsaken walkways are nothing more than mere legends told over and over again by the elders to scare their children not to set foot into the castle. I gritted my teeth, and started to look around for more information.

When I am looking around the exterior of this mansion, one could not help but wonder, during the early 19^th century, how could William Kellie Smith could came up with the idea of building his mansion into a castle for his beloved family using the colonial style houses concept complete with Moorish-style windows and even planned to have a lift in his castle!

As I walked through the narrow entrance of Kellie’s Castle, I had a strong feeling that William Kellie Smith was a generous man in welcoming guests to his mansion, because the first thing that I came in the mansion, I could see a large guest room waiting for me, but, the design is kinda ugly to me because the place is so narrow to me and gave the feeling of pressure. The walkways are built narrow, with brick columns decorating the whole walkway on the outside. The mansion is mainly built with semi-circular arches decorating all the entrances to chambers in the castle.

The mansion is built with an open concept as there are plenty of light penetrating the entire mansion, giving it sufficient lighting during the day, which i feel it gave me a beautiful scene. As the broken window panes lay rusty, I could not help but notice that the Moorish-style windows are built using kayu cengal, a type of tough wood found only in South East Asia. William Kellie Smith also built a basement to hide his family from threats of harm. A spiral staircase leads down to the basement, and this is well blend into the brick design of his mansion, hiding it from preying eyes unless one takes a closer look only we can see the stairways leading down to the basement.

The upper level of this mansion is also built with a different concept of design, which i think it is a beautiful design, where William Kellie Smith incorporated a plaster wall along the walkways leading to the rooms. The room designed for his daughter is the biggest in the mansion, built wide enough with a dressing room within the bedroom itself. This symbolizes his deep love and affection for his daughter, Helen. As I descended back to the lower floor, the living room captured my attention as this room is connected to the dining room, so it makes it easier for his guest to mingle around while having their favourite food. The space planning which William Kellie Smith designed is great as the kitchen is built on the exterior of the building, so there would be less sooth and dust pertaining to the cooking.

On the second floor, William Kellie Smith built an emergency escape route via the roof of this mansion, having a narrow, concrete stairway as the only mean of escaping. This stairway is built with his child’s safety in mind, as the concrete stairway may only fit a small child.

There is also a wide balcony on the second floor, leading to the open air. This is built to allow his wife, Agnes, to have a first hand view on the beauty of the state of Perak during the day, and having a quiet evening accompanied by stars overhead at night.

In my imagination, this would be William Kellie Smith's Daughter (Helen) bedroom if it would be completed. A queen size bed with her own dressing table would be suitable for her as i have seen her bedroom was quite big to fit her.

The mansion is restored in its original state to preserve its beauty from the colonial ages, signifying the deep affection and love that William Kellie Smith had for his family, driving him to create such a masterpiece. This mansion is a symbol of how far the extent that a man could go for his family, at the same time not forgetting the style and elegance of the colonial times.

In conclusion, Kellie's castle is still a mystery mansion to me, as it has not completed yet, because who knows that William Kellie Smith would build more different type of buildings in the surrounding? After all, it is to be a heritage in Malaysia.

Reference: http://mmadventure.com/camping/belum/kellie's_castle.htm