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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.  

Collitts Axe Sharpening Grooves  pre 1788

Coxs road  1814

Glenroy Gov Macquarie Camp   1815

Glenroy stockade  1816

Moyne farm  1820

Moyne Farm cemetery  18??

Lawsons Long Alley road  1823

Collitts Inn  1823

Bells Line siding road  1826/1880

Lockyers pass road  1828

 

Billesdene Grange  1831

Eliza Rodd’s grave  1831

Victoria Pass viaduct  1832

Harp of Erin  1832

Hassans Walls Stockade  1832

Victoria Pass Stockade site  1832

Hartley Court House  1837

Rosedale  1839

 

Old Trahlee  1840

Farmers Inn   1840s

Collitts cemetery  1841

Shamrock Inn     1841?56

St Bernards Catholic  1842

St Bernards presbytery  1842

Hartley Catholic cemetery  184?

Ambermere  1846

Blackmans cemetery  184?

Hassans walls cemetery  184?

Royal Hotel  1849

 

Ivy Cottage   1850s

Fernhill  1858

Bungarribee  1859

St Johns Anglican church  1859

Meades Farm  1860

 

Crazy Cottage   c1872

Hartley Vale works  1876

Hartley Vale school house  187?

Comet Inn  1879

Williams Store (Hof E extn)   1879?

Hartley Vale incline railway  1880?

Hyde Park  1881

Hartley School House  1881

Bonnie Blink   1885/6

Nioka  18??

 

Berghoffers pass  1912

 

Because of this rich historical and archaeological legacy several residents of the valley have done a great deal of research into keeping these links to the past, as has the RTA (now RMS)  – both from an Aboriginal and a European aspect. There is a move by these residents to have the valley classified as an area of significant heritage.

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.

 

4 Comments

  1. The Australian Cemeteries Index is working on a project to photograph and transcribe every headstone in Australia. We would love to hear from anyone who knows the exact location (latitude and longitude) of the following cemeteries listed above please:
    Eliza Rodd’s grave
    Hassans walls cemetery

    Also “Hartley Anglican Church” if it exists and has graves.

    I can be contacted via the link on our website http://www.cemeteryphotos.com.au

    Peter

  2. Thank you Ian for getting in touch. I will make sure that your message is relayed to those who are most interested in Hartley’s history.

    Regards, Hartley Web Moderator

  3. hello
    I should add that I also owned a share in Little Hartley Farm and was on its board for several years. I know a little about its history too.
    Ian

  4. hello
    I am Ian Greaves, now living in Red Rock, north of Coffs Harbour. I owned the school house in Hartley Vale and much of the old village opposite across JR Street from 1990 to 2001, and as a retired lawyer I researched the history of the village at the Land Titles Office and NSW Archives thoroughly, going back to the original Crown grants to the Scott brothers about 1840. Most of my research was left in a folder for the purchaser of the school house (built 1878) but I can recall some detail. I am now 77 and getting a little forgetful. I’d be glad to try to answer any questions about the school house and original village I owned, and the area generally.
    The school, as I recall, was renovated in 1925 and was closed in 1958, and the foundation stone was on the ground in front of the building when I sold. I believe there is a time capsule under the foundation stone from 1925 which I did not disturb.
    Ian

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