Hartley in Spring

Hartley in Spring Original Oil on board 38cm x 31cm by John Vander

Hartley is set in the Hartley Valley on the western slopes of the Blue Mountains.  Hartley was one of the first settlements on the road to Bathurst, which became a stopover point for settlers, and later for miners, heading west.  The famous courthouse designed by Mortimer Lewis, Colonial Architect, was erected in 1837 by convict labour and served as a courthouse for 50 years.  It is the oldest courthouse west of the mountains.  John Finn, who came from Ireland with his eight children, built the sandstone post office in 1846, which is now the oldest functioning post office in Australia.

Like so many colonial villages Hartley is now a restored historic site, and to preserve the quiet and charm of Hartley, the main highway has been diverted away from the main township.  John says of Hartley, “I have painted that small village a few times with different angles and composition, but always with the rising mist, so typical of the region.” Today Hartley is nothing more than a couple of churches, an impressive sandstone Court House, and about a dozen buildings many of which are unoccupied. It is still a delightful day trip from Sydney and, when combined with visits to Little Hartley and Hartley Vale, offers a rare insight into life beyond the mountains in the early years of the nineteenth century.

It is hard to image that in the 1830s it was seen as a future major township lying just west of the Blue Mountains on the road to Bathurst and the west.