MTS Heritage was engaged by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to prepare an Archaeological Management Plan for the residential precinct within Hartley Historic Site. The study aimed to assist with the design of a new stormwater drainage system at the Farmers Inn, Old Trahlee, the former Post Office Building, St Bernards Church and Presbytery, Shamrock Inn and Ivy Cottage. It follows the Guidelines for the preparation of Archaeological Management Plans published by the Department of Planning and Environment in 2009.

Hartley Historic Site is owned and managed by the NPWS and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register as a landscape heritage item (SHR No. 00992). The site remains a highly intact nineteenth century village, consisting of an array of government, church, hotel and residential buildings. As outlined in the 2002 Conservation Management Plan, the heritage significance of the site lies in its rarity as a substantially intact township dating from the mid-nineteenth century. The village has retained its ribbon configuration along the line of the Great West Road laid out by Sir Thomas Mitchell in c.1830 and its picturesque setting, which inspired prominent artists and photographers. It includes a collection of Colonial Georgian buildings that demonstrate a range of building forms and techniques, including vernacular slab construction and carved stonework. Given the lack of subsequent development, the site has considerable archaeological potential, particularly for masonry and timber vernacular outbuildings that have been lost.

Following a comprehensive literature review and analysis of historical records, MTS Heritage identified twenty-seven (27) archaeological features and/or areas of archaeological potential. These areas include the cuttings of extant historic buildings and levelled areas at the rear of the buildings, which were likely established for former timber outbuildings, including kitchens, bath houses and privies, and wells. In these areas there is a moderate to high potential for a range of relics, including structural remains, artefact-rich cesspit and well deposits and deposits associated with the use of former outbuildings. Within the footprint of historic buildings, underfloor deposits not previously removed are also likely to survive below original rooms and within footing trenches. The analysis of artefacts recovered from these contexts would confirm the size, layout and use of former outbuildings and could provide further insights into the lives of former occupants, their wealth, diet and access to material goods. Taken together, such information would provide further understanding of life at Hartley during the mid-to-late nineteenth century, supplementing the historical record.

The AMP includes a research framework to guide future archaeological investigations at the site. It presents a management strategy for zones of high, moderate, low and low to nil archaeological potential, with an archaeological management process formulated to assist NPWS with future works. Additional policies to conserve and manage the archaeological resource at the subject site are also provided to ensure appropriate levels of archaeological investigation, conservation, interpretation and display.