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 A
welcome sight for travellers
Early maps up until
1832 show Collits’ Inn as the only building in the
entire area, with five roads radiating from it. Every traveller moving from
Sydney to the Outer Settlements
near Bathurst would have stayed
there after the frightening descent of Cox’s Road. Two more roads, Lawson’s
Long Alley and Bell’s Line of
Road, were constructed in 1824, providing even more traffic. Both can still
be walked today.
In 1831, a post office was established at the Inn.
The coachman would stay there after the gruelling task of getting his coach
and horses down the mountain. This is now the History Room.
“Younger Collets Road”
The
descent down Cox’s Pass often took an entire day. It was such a dangerous
descent with a heavily loaded wagon that travellers sometimes died en
route. For this reason, efforts were still being made to find a safer road
down the mountain. Young James Collits, Pierce and Mary’s son, found an
alternative route to Bathurst
and was given a grant of land for his efforts. But the Surveyor-General Sir
Thomas Mitchell had different ideas. He wanted to build it down Victoria
Pass.
At first, the Governor ordered Mitchell to follow “Younger Collets
Road”, but later gave permission to build Victoria Pass. The road opened in
October, 1832, and is still in use today.
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Building the Inn
In 1821,
Pierce Collits gained permission to take his cattle to the Cox’s River,
west of the Blue Mountains. After this trip, he
wrote to Governor Macquarie saying that he had found a site ideal for
building an Inn. The governor gave Collits a grant
of 200 acres of land at the foot of Cox’s Pass. There are records of Pierce
building the Inn in 1822, but the first mention of
anyone seeing the building is not until November 1823.
The Inn is also mentioned in March 1824, as “The
Golden Fleece”. There is also a wonderful description of the Inn
written in 1827, which is now framed on the walls of the Inn.
 From 1832 until today
When
Victoria Pass
opened, the Inn lost its passing traffic and was
forced to close. It became a private farm, although it remained with the
Collits family. When Pierce died in 1848, it was left to James. It remained
in the Collits’ family until 1875 when it was bought by Mrs. Lewington and
restored as the Mount York Inn, operating from 1877-79. There were about
600 people living in Hartley Vale during this period because the shale
mines were in operation from 1865 until World War I.
In the early 20th century, the Inn once again
became a popular guest house. It had two tennis courts and was the centre
of activity in the area. Many young people took holidays there. Those
halcyon days are recorded in the old Visitor’s Books which are now on
display at the Inn. It was during this period that
the writers of the operetta Collits’
Inn, Varney Monk and Thomas Stuart Gurr, developed
their fondness for the place.
In 1947, the Inn was sold to Steve Pilarcik, a
Croatian working as a eucalyptus oil distiller. Pilarcik married Elsie
Finch, whose family lived at the Comet Inn nearby in Hartley Vale. When
Elsie died, he married Katie, also from Croatia,
in 1965. Katie continued
living at the Inn after Steve’s death. She sold it
to the current owners on the 1st of
May, 1998 and returned to Croatia.
The Inn’s award winning restoration
began in 1999 by Christine and Russel Stewart.
The Inn functioned as a bed and breakfast and
restaurant until November 2007.
The Macdonald family purchased the Inn in November 2007 to use as a
private home.
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