Medlow Bath (postcode: 2780) is an Australian small idylic village located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba and Blackheath. It has an approximate altitude of 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) and is located approximately 115 kilometres (71 mi) west north west of the Sydney central business district and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north west of Katoomba. Medlow Bath is set in a semi-r
ural area which includes fire-prone eucalypt forest, and has been subject to bushfire threats many times during its history. The area around Medlow Bath has been occupied by the Gundungurra and Dhurag Aboriginal people for an estimated 40,000 years before Europeans arrived. On 26 May, 1813 Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson, while crossing the Blue Mountains, became the first Europeans to pass through Medlow Bath. In 1815 William Cox constructed the first road over the mountains and his team passed through the area. The original name of the settlement was Brown's Siding which was given to the railway siding in 1880 because the main business in the area was Brown's Sawmill. In 1883 the name was changed to Medlow because there was another Brown's Siding near Lithgow. It could be a corruption of the Gundungurra word "megalong" or it could be taken from Medlow in England (if there is such a place.) Station St, which runs off the highway at the western end of Medlow Bath, was once part of the main road. About 400 metres from the highway is the No.11 Gatekeepers Cottage, built in 1867. This was originally the residence of the man who controlled a nearby level crossing. It is now privately owned and is one of the best–preserved gatekeepers’ cottages in the Mountains. During the 1880s Edward Hargraves built a house at Medlow Bath where the Hydro Majestic now stands. In 1891 the Belgravia Hotel was opened next to Edward Hargraves' house. 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. The Hydro Majestic reopened in 2015 following a grand $30 million restoration. The hotel is a combination of three grand properties. The first being a property developed by Edward Hargraves who received a grant from the government following his discovery of gold to the west of the Blue Mountains in 1851. The second was Belgravia Hotel which was built in 1891 next door to the ‘Hargraves House’ and the third was ‘Tuckers House’. In 1904 the Sydney businessman Mark Foy had the railway siding renamed Medlow Bath. Mark Foy had a vision for Medlow Bath and his legacy can been seen throughout this historic village. The Hydro Majestic attracts many visitors, locally and from around the globe, it has stunning, uninterupted $million views overlooking the Megalong Valley. In the 2011 census, Medlow Bath had a population of 517 people. There are many walking tracks beginning at Medlow Bath.
