Western Cove appeared almost deserted when in 1971 I saw the place for the first time. I noticed one or two houses and several sheds. Yet evidence of former activity was obvious everywhere.

A sheep dip built of concrete was situated on the east side of Western Cove Road at the intersection with the Esplanade. Close to the sheep dip were piles of old, broken concrete slabs and rusty iron, apparently the remains of a large demolished shed. About 200 metres west between the Esplanade and the beach stood the ruins of a former house, several walls still up to 2 metres high. Still further west, somewhere near allotment 56 or 58, a narrow wooden jetty protruded into the sea. It was rickety and planks were loose but it could still with care be walked on. Scattered along the beach were rusty artifacts — axles, remains of wheels and spokes, and smaller items. To the east approaching Keel Street was the first of a sequence of ponds, situated between the Esplanade and beach, either dug out or bulldozed decades earlier, to supply water (I guessed) for sheep.

Any casual observer in 1971 could have concluded that Western Cove had at times been a busy place. However, details to hand are sketchy.



For how long Ephraim S. Bates remained the owner of the land shown on the 1882 map (see previous page) is presently unknown.

In 1904 Gerald Gleeson Ayliffe of Adelaide purchased land at Western Cove but its location in relation to E.S Bates' property is uncertain.

Peter Hawkins says: "I have a copy (from the Lands Titles Office) of the Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Section T in the Hundred pf Haines, being 100 acres, from the Commissioner of Crown Lands to Gerald Gleeson Ayliffe dated 23rd November 1904, for the sum of fifty pounds."

The booklet Kangaroo Island in 1905 (by E.H. Hallack) mentions G.G. Ayliffe as a "new settler" who owned land at Western Cove:

"Other new settlers on the island are Mr. G. G. Ayliffe, son of Mr. G. H. Ayliffe, of the Central Board of Health, who holds 5,000 acres of land at Western Cove..."

A 1911 newspaper report titled "Progress and Problems" said in part:

"Another settler, Mr. Gerald Ayliffe, took up 1,500 acres of land on the bight of Nepean Bay, about nine miles from Kingscote. He came out of an Adelaide office about eight years ago, and has improved his holding so that it means an independent living for him. He made mistakes, but this is all the more an advertisement for the country — because he is satisfied with his prospects. When the land was taken up it would not carry 100 sheep, but now Mr. Ayliffe estimates it’s stocking capacity at 1,000. About 100 acres of land are under crop — 12 acres of New Zealand Cape oats will average 40 bushels — and pastures have been improved by grubbing, rolling, burning, and clearing. "I have not had to buy ten tons of hay since I have been here," remarked Mr. Ayliffe, "and the stock generally keep in fine condition." Surely this is a satisfactory accomplishment for a man who dropped the pen and took up the axe and the ploughshare." (The Adelaide Chronicle, 9 December, 1911)

Gerald Gleeson Ayliffe (1873-1946) fought in the Boer War, served as District Clerk with the Kingscote Council and as a J.P., was captain of the Kingscote Rifle Club, and a vice president of the Kingscote Racing Club. These and other activities got him mentioned frequently in Adelaide and KI newspapers for over 40 years.

In November 1921 G.G. Ayliffe sold to William Walter Bates who became the owner of 100 acres for the sum of 50 pounds. (Agreement for Sale and Purchase, Volume 500, Folio 98, No. 5148). Whether this "Bates" was related to E.S. Bates needs checking as KI has several unrelated familes named Bates.

The "100 acres" appears to have been more exactly 96 1/2 acres which is the acreage specified when a Lewis Bruce Bates inherited the land in 1950. (Land Grant, Vol. 1490, Folio 111) Lewis Bruce Bates is not the Bruce Bates pictured in the photo, previous page.

The next owners in 1955 were Frederick Rolland Hammat and Henriette Dorothea Hammat both of Kingscote. "George" of Kingscote (who installed my antenna in 2011) said he regularly came to Western Cove as a kid in the 1960s and knew of a teacher named "Hammat" who had lived there and whose house burned down. The Transfer, however, lists Frederick as a grazier and for Dorothea home duties, and both of Kingscote.

In 1961 the land was transferred to Nepean Development Limited.



1907 saw proposals for constructing a railway line on KI extending to Western Cove to encourage more farmers to settle on the Island and lead to greater prosperity. But it never went ahead.

1914: Did the world's greatest evangelist visit Western Cove in 1914? Click here to consider the evidence.

In the 1930s oysters were grown east of Western Cove. The effort lasted about ten years and the concrete structures associated with oyster farming are still visible in the sea. Currently three oyster farms operate about six kilometres east near the Red Banks.

Apparently the area between the Esplanade and Oceanview Drive was at some stage a potato farm but no details are presently available.

An article in The Advertiser in 1933, titled Insatiable Carnivorous Sharks Abound, includes an incident at Western Cove:

K.F.V. SANDERSON "I recall a still summer morning in Western Cove, K.I., when our ship lay to a slack chain in about two fathoms of water. The bottom for hundreds of yards around was of white sand. That morning the washer-up of dishes had been careless enough to throw some of our cutlery over the side with the wash-up water, and there on the sand, flashing back the sunlight, lay an odd fork or two. One of our crew, the sceptic, said that he was going to dive for them sharks or no sharks. "Anyhow," he said, "there are none about and you could see one coming for miles." Protest was useless. He stripped off his pyjama coat, and was just having a preliminary stretch and a yawn, when his eyes became fixed and his half-finished yawn became a gape. There, within twenty feet of the ship was a white pointer a big chap with the girth of an ox. Like a shadow he had, after the manner of his kind, cruised along when he was least expected. I remember that our sceptic turned a little pale and put on his pyjama coat, and the forks stayed where they were." (January 26, 1933, p. 64)

A website that lists Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks says:

"Cape Arid. South Australian Fisheries Department patrol boat. Capsized near Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, 12 December 1979. One of two crew drowned.The wreck washed up on the beach near Kangaroo Head, and was taken in tow to Kingscote." (oceans1.customer.netscape.net.au/Kingscote-wrecks.html)

This seems to be the same incident mentioned by Cordes (1986):

"Fisheries Inspector, Dennis Ferrett, survived 13 hours in the sea in Western Cove when his launch capsized. A companion drowned in the nighttime drama." (p. 80)

Nepean Bay Conservation Park to the east of Western Cove was dedicated in 1974 for the protection of flora and fauna, and is the only reserved area of coastal sandplain on KI. A description from Wikipedia reads:

"The park has an area of 32 ha (79 acres). Featuring deep calcareous sands, it lies on the southern shoreline of Western Cove in Nepean Bay, about 9 km (5.6 mi) south of Kingscote. The park's vegetation is mostly an open scrub of Eucalyptus diversifolia and Callitris preissii with areas of low shrubland, tussock sedgeland and Allocasuarina verticillata low open forest. Other significant plant species include Melaleuca halmaturorum, Acacia sophorae and Leucopogon parviflorus. There is a nesting colony of fairy terns on the coast adjacent to the park. Tammar wallabies are common." (www.snipview.com/q/Nepean_Bay_Conservation_Park)

Besides Thompson, Willson, Bates, Chenoweth, Ayliffe and Hammat another name associated with Western Cove history is "Chirgwin".

Tim Chirgwin's property is bounded by Hog Bay Road, Western Cove township, and the coastal samphire west of the township. Mr Chirgwin's father and grandfather were both born on the Island. [There is a genealogy of the Chirgwins on the family history shelf at the Kingscote Museum.]

The photos below were taken on Mr Chirgwin's land and show:

1    Seawater through coastal samphire;
2    A bridge on Mr Chirgwin's property;
3    A long-disused, cricket pitch where KI residents used to play cricket.

The township that became Western Cove was laid out by Nepean Developments Ltd. in 1961 and approved for subdivision in 1963.

In 1967 Cliff Hawkins Pty. Ltd. was appointed sole selling agent. The first allotment sold was No. 243 on Sea Vista Road (November 30th, 1967) and by 1973 all of the 246 allotments within the estate were sold.




For decades people including realestate agents referred to the area as "Nepean Bay". After the turn of the century "Western Cove" became more usual and is the name used in this history.

Peter Hawkins explained by e-mail:

"You’ll note I refer to the estate as Nepean Bay. I was particularly annoyed when council put up the sign ‘Western Cove’.  Whilst the whole of the bay is indeed Western Cove, the correct name of the estate is Nepean Bay. Under the Geographical Names Act that remains the name, so if we as agents described it as anything other than Nepean Bay, we'd  be in breach of the Act."

In March 2017 the KI Council assigned street numbers to properties which, however, can still be identified by their allotment numbers. The letter notifying me of my street number referred to the township as "Nepean Bay Township" and "Nepean Bay". The Sealink map for tourists has since at least 2013 (which is my oldest copy) used both names — "Nepean Bay" and, in brackets, "Western Cove".