Unfortunately it was devastated by the recent bushfires and a group of local volunteers are determined to restore it.

The Reserve Trust executive committee consists of chairperson David Hirsch, deputy chairperson Margaret Combs, treasurer Hugh Gould, environmental botanist Wyn Jones and secretary Frances Leighton, as well as a number of other volunteers.

Prior to being cared for by a Trust, the cemetery was owned privately by the Stewart family who own the Collits Inn, according to deputy chairperson Margaret Combs.

"It was taken over because it was just a parcel that was in there and when they [the Stewart's] went to get possessory title the attorney general took it over.

"That was at the instigation of Bob Morris who was then told to form a Trust and the cemetery was put into the crown reserve in about 1986," she said.

Ms Combs said it was the only cemetery that is a crown reserve in care and management, of a land managers group.

Ms Combs said there had been a few bushfires that had gone through the cemetery including one in the early 1900s.

"People in those days were pretty poor and they only had wooden crosses and little wooden fences which all got completely burnt out," she said.

Prior to the recent ravaging 2019-20 bushfires, the cemetery was restored with picnic facilities and well-kept, Ms Combs said.

"But now it's devastated, the facilities and fences are burnt down and unfortunately after fire you get weeds growing," she said.

Secretary Frances Leighton said there had been years where the cemetery had fallen into neglect.

"We have had problems with vandals and people cutting fences, so things have been damaged, some gravestones have been stolen as well as some of the iron work and tiles on graves," she said.

Mrs Leighton said people had also come to the cemetery illicitly.

"We've had certain filming clips of paranormal activities come without permission, we appeal to the public that they don't do that because they could cause damage without realising," she said.

One of the centre graves in the cemetery had stairs leading down into the vault however it was concreted over in 1985, according to Ms Combs.

"Every teenager in this area would have gone there. It used to be like the spooky place to go," she said.

"There was a gate on the front of it and you could open that gate up and you could walk down into the vault, where there was all sorts of shelves around with urns and things, equipped for people who had been cremated."

Ms Combs said a number of measures were put into place to prevent people from stealing things and vandalising the area.

"People had stolen a big angel, a bell and tiles Lithgow Pottery had made for around the graves," she said.

"A lot of them were taken and sold up at Mount Victoria in the antique shop."

Ms Combs said the gates were locked to prevent people from driving directly to the cemetery.

"The Trust decided to lock the front gate right down on the road. I mean, it's pretty scary to walk all the way up there at nighttime and it's a long way to the main road to carry a headstone so it's sort of cut out a lot of that," she said.

The Reserve Trust has worked on an insurance claim to fix the fences around as well as a number of grants for the upkeep and maintenance of the cemetery.

Mrs Leighton said since December. the Trust has had three meetings to determine what they can do.

"We're all volunteers and we're working in our free time but we need money to maintain it.

"We're hosting working bees to do some gardening and weeding and we've employed a stonemason to help us do plaques for the graves where we can't see the inscriptions any longer," she said.

Mrs Leighton said they had applied for a grant to have a ground penetrating radar conducted.

"We're not exactly sure how many graves are here, there is about 100 that we know of," she said.

Chairperson David Hirsch is involved in the Trust due to his wife being a direct descendant of Pierce Collits, said it was important to preserve the graves.

"It's a respect for the past and we want people to avail themselves of this piece of history. I think that it'll appeal for many people and it might complete their family history," he said.

"If we can renew an interest in the past, people will feel more comfortable about the present.

Mrs Leighton said she would like more of the public to come and see the cemetery including school groups.

"It's so important educationally wise and a lot of people don't know about Mount Blaxland, they think Blaxland Wentworth and Lawson stopped at Mount York.

"They don't know that Governor Macquarie himself went to the summit of Mount Blaxland on a horse. It was a very significant moment for the European settlement of Bathurst," she said.

"It's important for the community to know their history plus the cemetery is easily accessible and beautiful."

Mr Hirsch said the cemetery represents a part of Australian history which is unique being the first area that was settled west of the mountains.

"The people who are in here have the stories of the very earliest settlers. I think that in this neighborhood there are a lot of people who are related to people here and if they became aware that of that connection, I imagine this place would have much more significance for them."

He encouraged locals to come out and enjoy the area which would remain as a preserved bush cemetery.

There are also tours of the cemetery run through Pete Clifford's Blue Mountains Mystery Tours. A certain portion of his income goes towards helping maintain the cemetery.

Ms Combs said she would also like to put a shelter shed up at the cemetery in case of hot weather or rain.

"It's surprising the number of people that come up here and have picnics so we want to accommodate them," she said.

Being the resting place of the well-known Collits family, the cemetery is situated a few hundred metres from the Collits Inn.

Early settlers the Field's and Morris' also came over with the Collits and are buried at the cemetery with graves dating back to the early 1800s.

Henry Lawson's father, Niels Hertzberg Larsen is also buried in Hartley along with a number of children and an Indigenous person named Tambo who was a servant to a local magistrate.

"The Hartley cemetery is the only place I know of where there's actually an Indigenous person that's buried in a European cemetery, because that's totally against their culture," Ms Combs said.

"But Tambo was held in such high esteem, that when he passed away, the family wanted to bury him there," she said.

Ms Combs said it was interesting to go around and read some of the headstones.

"With the flu epidemic that went through you'll find a lot of young people have been buried there, it sort of took out a lot of people in the 19^th century," she said.

A spooky feel

The cemetery is known for its creepy feel being situated in a bush and it's almost as if the ghosts of the souls buried there have protected it from intense bushfires.

There is a famous ghost story of 'The Lady in Black' which continues to circulate captivating locals and visitors.

The story follows Caroline Collits who was married very young in an unhappy relationship.

Caroline fled and took up with another man but one night as she was heading home down Mount Victoria Pass from a drinking place, her jealous husband murdered her.

Travellers allege they've seen sightings of a woman dressed in black as she haunts the hillsides of the pass.

Henry Lawson wrote a poem about Caroline's ghost after he supposedly had an encounter with her. It was titled 'The Ghost at the Second Bridge'.

The Reserve Trust welcome anyone who is interested in helping to restore the Hartley Cemetery.

"We will be holding a few more working bees and we would love people to come along and help maintain the land and ensure it is here for the future generation," Mrs Leighton said.

For more information contact Frances on 0405 634 229.