Hartley’s Heritage

The Hartley Valley is a treasure house of European and Aboriginal heritage assets. In addition it  represents the first place west of Sydney where you feel you have reached ‘the Bush’, real country in which one can achieve a feeling of  rural solitude.

Following is a table of heritage properties that mark the valley as a treasure house. Most are private dwellings though some are open to the public. The Progress Association is keen to promote this  portfolio as a remarkable series of properties and places that add up to make the Hartley Valley a remarkable place. We would be interested to hear the views of residents to the concept of making  the broader community aware of the significance of the Hartley Valley as a place of powerful heritage significance. Have we missed some?  Are their dates of origin right? Do you have information that  might enhance appreciation of particular places or like to suggest that places be excluded from  consideration. Any comments or corrections please advise the Secretary, Hartley District Progress  Association 1813  Sub Committee,  PO Box 123 Lithgow, NSW 2790.  

To find out more about what Heritage Listing is all about click here. It will tell  you the facts, debunk the myths and show you where to find more relevant information.

Documentation assisting this claim is to be found at Hartley Valley NHL Nomination 2012

Your considered views on this document and its proposals are welcome.

For more information on the history of the Hartley Village with some amazing photographs to complement the text,  this is a very comprehensive document on the Cultural Landscape of Hartley Village produced as part of  a Conservation Management Plan for the Hartley Historic Site by OTTO CSERHALMI & PARTNERS P/L  published in 2002 and sourced from the Internet.

It is viewable in several parts: Part one outlines the methodology of the document before getting into the more historically relevant,  Aboriginal Associations,  Crossing of the Blue Mountains, Settlement of the Vale of Clwydd,  and the development of the Town of Hartley.

Part two documents the building of the Hartley Courthouse, the Hartley Churches, the Governor’s Visit, and Nairn’s Hotels

Part three completes the description of the Hotels of Hartley, then goes to The Gold Rush Years, Staging Posts: Great Western Road, Hartley Schools, and Holterman’s Views of Harltey on his way to the Gold Fields.

Part 4  completes the last section of part 3, then goes on to document The Great Western Railway, though has many photos of the Hartley village from the early 20th Century

Part 5 details The Road to Jenolan Caves, the Cooee March, the Depression, Vanishing Colonial Heritage, Re-Opening the Courthouse, Acquisitions by the Blaxland Shire Council, NPWS Care & Management  and References.