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Medlow Bath New South Wales
Hydro Majestic Hotel, at Medlow Bath, 2008
Population	611 (2016 census)
Established	circa 1870
Postcode(s)	2780
Location	115 km (71 mi) west north-west of Sydney CBD 5 km (3 mi) NW of Katoomba
LGA(s)	City of Blue Mountains
State electorate(s)	Blue Mountains
Federal division(s)	Macquarie
Suburbs around Medlow Bath: Megalong Valley Blackheath Blue Mountains National Park Megalong Valley Medlow Bath Blue Mountains National Park Blue Mountains National Park Katoomba Katoomba

Medlow Bath (postcode: 2780) is an Australian small town located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba and Blackheath. Its altitude is about 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) AHD and it is about 115 kilometres (71 mi) west-north-west of the Sydney central business district and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-west of Katoomba. At the 2011 census, Medlow Bath had a population of 517 people.

Description

Medlow Bath is set in a semi-rural area which includes fire-prone eucalypt forest, and has been subject to bushfire threats many times during its history.

The Hydro Majestic Hotel was developed by Sydney businessman, Mark Foy in the early years of the twentieth century and was the main economic activity in the area, until bushfires nearly destroyed the hotel in the summer of 2003.

There is an elaborate network of walking tracks, which were developed in the bushland between the hotel and the escarpment of the Megalong Valley. The tracks offer scope for many fine bushwalks and views of the Megalong Valley, but in more recent years have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance. Other tracks in the area include Bruce's Walk, an old track that was upgraded by bushwalkers and other volunteers in the 1980s. Bruce's Walk is located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath, on the fringes of the Blue Mountains National Park, a huge park that is now a World Heritage Site.

Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, died at the Hydro Majestic Hotel in 1920.

History

The area that is now known as Medlow Bath has been occupied by the Gundungurra and Darug Aboriginal peoples for an estimated 40,000 years before Europeans arrived in the early 19th century.

On 26 May 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Wentworth and William Lawson, while crossing the Blue Mountains, became the one of the first Europeans to pass through Medlow Bath.

William Cox constructed the first road over the mountains and his team passed through the area in 1815.

In 1869, the railway line reached Brown's Siding.

By the 1880s, Edward Hargraves built a house at Medlow Bath where the Hydro Majestic now stands.

Belgravia Hotel was opened next to Edward Hargraves' house in 1891.

In the 1900s, Sydney businessman, Mark Foy purchased three properties on the cliff and on 4 July 1904, the Hydro Majestic Hotel was opened. That same year, the railway siding was renamed Medlow Bath.

Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, died of heart failure at the Hydro Majestic Hotel on 7 January 1920.

The Hydro Majestic was reopened in 2014 and was completed in 2016.

Heritage listings

Medlow Bath has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Blue Mountains National Park: Blue Mountains walking tracks
• Beauchamp Road: Medlow Dam
• Great Western Highway: Medlow Bath railway station

Transport

Medlow Bath was connected to the Main Western railway line in 1880, when the station was called Brown's Siding. Medlow Bath railway station is now served by the Blue Mountains Line.

The Great Western Highway is the main road access route.

Katoomba Airfield is also located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Medlow Bath (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
2. Map 220 (11th ed.). {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "2011 Community Profiles: Medlow Bath (Urban Centres and Localities)". 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
4. ^ "Medlow Bath". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
5. Walsh, G. P. (1981). "Foy, Mark (1865–1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
6. Paton, Neil (2004). Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks. Kangaroo Press. pp. 249–251.
7. Rutledge, Martha. "Barton, Sir Edmund (1849–1920)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
8. "Blue Mountains Walking tracks". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00980. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
9. "Medlow Dam". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01366. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
10. "Medlow Bath Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01190. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.

External links

Media related to Medlow Bath, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons

33°40′S 150°17′E / 33.667°S 150.283°E / -33.667; 150.283

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