Prior to 1860 Sri Lanka then known as Ceylon was traditionally a coffee producing country. But with the coffee blight or coffee leaf disease which was supposed to have originated from Uva region on the other side of the hills of Adawatte estate completely destroyed the coffee plantation industry.

The area where Adawatte is situated and the surroundings which came under Madulsima or Badulla North Planting District were allowed to run into jungle. Around 1902 a planter from Naboda, Mathugama of Kalutara District by the name of Fread Hall and his wife started opening up Adawatte which was then known in Tamil as 'mousa' with planting tea. By 1921 the estate was planted to around 150-200acers of tea. But with the demise of Mr. Fred Hall in 1920-1921 or there about the ownership change hands and the new owners amalgamating Eldarado estate with Adawatte.

Subsequently with the nationalization of the plantations in 1972 the management came under ‘Janatha Estates Development Board’. Again with the denationalization the estate was taken over by Finlays Tea Estates Sri Lanka. Finlays who was involved in tea and rubber plantation management in Sri Lanka from 1890 invested a colossal amount of money to improve the estate to the present condition resulting in being an award winning unit, in other words the best estate within Uva Province, Sri Lanka.