Type

Historic buildings/places

Where

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

Accessibility

Medium

Price

$8.80 for adults or $6.60 for concession (including students, seniors and pensioners). Children under 5 are free.

Opening times

• Self-guided tours are available between 10am to 1pm and 1.30pm to 4pm from Tuesday to Sunday, unless school tours are in session.
• Call or email Hartley Historic Site Visitor Centre for tour availability.

Bookings

Call or email Hartley Historic Site Visitor Centre to make a booking. Book in advance for large groups, school groups, or other pre-arranged visits.

Hire this venue

Hartley Courthouse is available for events and function hire.

Please note

• To see inside the courthouse and church, you’ll need to buy a ticket for a self-guided tour.
• Contact Hartley Historic Site Visitor Centre to check self-guided tour operating hours.
• Book in advance for large groups, school groups or for other pre-arranged visits.
• Tours may be unavailable if school excursions are in progress.
• Visitors can see Hartley Courthouse from the outside at any time.

Hartley Courthouse was designed by colonial architect Mortimer Lewis in the Greek Revival style. This imposing building was constructed of locally quarried sandstone in 1837 and remains largely intact.

You’ll feel immersed in its past with re-enactments of the court process through audio tracks and holograms. You can even step into a prison cell that kept many notorious bushrangers and cattle thieves. Inside the cells, with their bars and bolts still in position, you can imagine the thoughts of men used to roaming the country locked up tight in this remote prison.

In 1887 the Hartley Court of Petty Sessions was officially closed. It was reserved for public recreation in 1914 and became a popular rest stop for people travelling to Jenolan Caves. Today the building stands as a reminder of the past and the development of the colony. 

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Aboriginal meeting place

Hartley Historic Village is set in a landscape of great and continuing importance to Aboriginal people who have lived on and passed through this land for thousands of years.

A tor, or cluster of granite rocks known as Kew-Y-Ahn to local Aboriginal people, is said to have been a meeting place for the Wiradjuri People from the west and Gundungurra People from the east.

Excellent bushwalking on historic roads

The Hartley area is great for bushwalking. Kew-Y-Ahn Bells Rock Heritage Walking Track is a 600m return walk to a striking granite tor with valley views. Rowsons River walk is a 1km loop by the river and Rowsons Hut remains.

Outside the village, you may like to set out on Lawson's Long Alley, Lockyer's Pass or Berghofer's Pass. Hartley’s rural setting is welcoming and peaceful – perfect for a picnic or a satisfying stroll.

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. Discover more interesting facts at the visitor centre or buy a ticket for a self-guided tour. Large groups can book in advance on (02) 6355 2117.