Type

Visitor centres

Where

51 Old Great Western Highway, Hartley, NSW, 2790 - in Hartley Historic Site in Sydney and surrounds

Accessibility

Medium

Opening times

Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 1pm and 1.30pm to 4pm. Closed on Mondays, Public Holidays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. 

What to
bring

Drinking water

Drop into Hartley Historic Site Visitor Centre before you tour the village. As well as providing all the information you will need about Hartley’s buildings and history, it stocks a range of Australian souvenirs, snacks and drinks. Changing historical and art exhibitions give fascinating insights into the story of Hartley – spend some time checking out the old photographs and imagining the bustle of this little town in its heyday.

Hartley Historic Site Visitor Centre is itself housed in a colonial building: the Farmers Inn. The central portion of this single-storey building, corresponding with the verandah, was the original part of the house. At either end of the building are added rooms, which were probably built when the building became an inn in about 1865. Some original iron roof survives today, as well as the chimneys.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Aboriginal meeting place

Hartley was once a meeting place for the Wiradjuri from the west and Gundungurra tribes from the east. In colonial times, Hartley Courthouse served as a mustering point for Aboriginal people.

Excellent bushwalking on historic roads

The Hartley area is great for bushwalking along the early roads. After your visit to the village, you may like to set out on Lawson's Long Alley, Lockyer's Pass or Berghofer's Pass. Check out the Lithgow Town and Around website for details. The rural setting of Hartley is welcoming and peaceful – perfect for a picnic or a satisfying stroll. Explore the interesting remnants of heritage plantings surrounding the buildings in the village and keep an eye out for the many birds that thrive amid the gardens and native forest.

The story of settlement

This exceptionally well-maintained village is of national historical significance as a substantial early nineteenth-century settlement. It tells modern visitors a great deal about the expansion of European development in inland Australia and the beautiful old buildings illustrate the changing role and fortunes of Hartley from first settlement of the inland to the beginning of the motor transport era. You can find out all sorts of interesting facts at the visitor centre and educational groups can book tours with advance notice on (02) 6355 2117.