Eternal Ruins of Kellies Castle

It was during the one fine morning of the late 80s the cry of a new born baby complimented the beauty of the springs and as they had witnessed the gentle scream resonant its sounds from the walkway of the small farmhouse.

It was Smith family who found the peace in the form of the healthy baby who got his feet landed within the ambience of the Easter Kellas estate and soon the baby was named as William Smith. The golden era of the Victorian was at its height and following the perks the colony of British started embracing its area to India through the ports of South East Asia.

William Smith during his early life nestled and bloomed within the area of farm adjacent to Dallas on the Moray Firth of Scotland. As the core of Victorian era started reaching the new heights by bringing new technology which in turn gave rise to more frustration and acute poverty to working class. The technologies and invention perhaps served as a main object to push poverty into different level which in turn asked William to escape the site to look for new prospects.

Young William, who later preferred to be called as William Kellie Smith, bid a farewell to his hood and walked down the dawn of life to serve his dream of becoming rich. Although it’s very much shrouded why he chose Malaya to be a new home to his dream however he walked in and grabbed the occasion with his both hand to serve the purpose of his reverie.

During his run he accepted the key of working community of planters, miners and entrepreneurs and most amazingly he found his space to give wings to his dreams. Following his spontaneous moment of work with rubber planters named Alma baker he had many ups and down but fighting with hurdles he ultimately had a great success.

Fortunate William investigated the new contract which was assigned to Alma Baker and while heading the norms of it he had a great turnover and the contract he got himself in was affiliated with the marks of government and the prospect of agreement was to make roads in South Perak.

With that profit William obtained the 900 acres of land at the south of Ipoh and then he refurbished all the area which was filled with grass and forest to instigate with his dream of rubber plantation. After acquiring and cleaning the forested land he named the land in honour to guide the testimonies of family, Kinta Kella.

With his plan falling just at a right place he decided to form London based company. Just after when he implanted his plan he was endowed with a handsome salary as he was allotted in the post of Manager by the London Board.

As his fortune just started to kick the gear the flue just complimented his measures. Since during that time there was a scarcity of rubber in the market which in turn owed to the great demand of it and from there he polished the rim of his fate.

Meeting the call of the market demands he then further enhanced his chances and he was fuelled with industrial bang. He then started making a profit and bonus from the London based company.

It was in 1909/10 when he first established a Moorish designed manor for him to settle along with his wife Agnes Smith and their first child Helen Smith. The Manor had its based assigned with the flow of Kinta River and the lovely location the Manor gave them a clear view of Kinta valley.

An awesome ambience which was complimented by wide space, sprawling gardens, lawns and lakes established himself as a real tycoon. It was during the Victorian era it was a kind of tradition for a rich people to buy or structure something like manor.

To understand the passion one must cite the story of his new born baby who gave him enough influence to construct new manor which began just after the birth of his son Anthony during 1915. Although if you will look at the old manor than the only thing you will witness is its open courtyard and the crumbling wall and it is believed that the new section of manor was just an extension, therefore you have no kitchen and servants floor. 

The new blocks of the manor was to take ten years of work so understanding the importance William had employed Indian taskforce to complete the work. Conversely during the call of 1920s the Spanish epidemic opened its account by killing many lives which had no cure and such was an effect of the flu that many of his workers died while projecting the work of the Smith.

During such situation the head of his workforce requested William to construct the temple to accommodate the effigy of Mariamman and William in his turn agreed with the words and commissioned the land to construct the temple which was located at a distance of few metres away from his home. At present the temple is accompanied by the effigy of the Kellie Smith and people still comes here and pays tribute to the temple.

With the construction of the temple everything started working efficiently and William asked his taskforce to divert their focus in building the project which he had already assigned to his labour and working class. It was 1926 when William along with his daughter went for a trip to Britain.

Although it is not clear why they took a course of England but as per believe it is said that he went to England to reunite with his wife and son. As per the folklore Anthony was asked to go home to pursue his schooling and Agnes followed the course of Anthony.

William who is believed to have travelled to Lisbon to collect his elevator which he had ordered for his manor died there and he was buried at the British graveyard. Just after the death of William, Agnes was least interested to carry on with the profession of father and Smith distressed family never made their way to Malaya.

Following the incident Anthony Kellie smith was killed in the World War 2 and Helen never made her way back to home.

Kellie's Castle Today

At present the manor of Smiths is surpassed by the management of the castle and the site has been successfully transformed into tourist destination. It was in June 2003 when workers who were engaged in road widening process discover the section of the tunnel which is believed to connect the road of castle. 

The 1.5 km high and 1m wide corridor was explored by the excavator who rushed through the structure of timber. Although the department of museum has not concluded whether the tunnels links the doors of the castle but they are certainly looking ahead.

Although even after the ravages the remnants of Kellies castle still commands the site but what’s more surprising to understand is the dream which was followed by William which in the end served the purpose of eternal life.