Collits' Inn: Uncovering the Past

"Restoring Collits’ Inn and researching its history has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I hope you find it as fascinating as I have."

Collits' Inn:
Uncovering the Past

Surprises found in restoring
this 1823 Australian icon

Collits’ Inn sits at the foot of Mount York, in Hartley Vale, just on the other side of the Blue Mountains.

The Inn was built by Pierce Collits, an ex-convict, in 1823.

This book is my personal story of restoring one of Australia’s earliest Inns. All travellers crossing the Blue Mountains in 1823 had to come down the notoriously dangerous Cox’s Pass past the Inn on their way to the settlement of Bathurst and other lands to the west.

Collits' Inn: Uncovering the Past Surprises found in restoring this 1823 Australian icon by Christine Stewart Illustrated by Christine Stewart

Author

In 1998, my husband and I took on the project of restoring the derelict but iconic Collits’ Inn, built in 1823 by an ex-convict to welcome travellers crossing the Blue Mountains in the early days of the colony. In some ways, I felt that I was just a catalyst for the project and that for my whole life, I had been in training for it.