Hill Cove lies in the north-west of West Falklands, on the north coast and on the shore of Byron Sound looking out to Saunders Island and is backed and sheltered by Mount Adam, the highest mountain on West Falklands to the south. There are two parts to the settlement, the Point and the Top settlement. The Top settlement is sheltered by the ‘French Peaks’ to the south. A forest, in the valley near the top settlement, was started by Robert Blake in 1886 with further plantings of Sitka spruce by James Reid, the Government Forester in the 1920’s. It is the largest stand of trees in the islands. Hill Cove was one of the West’s earliest settlements.

History
Hill Cove (then known as Adelaide Station) was first leased from the Government for farming by William Wickham Bertrand and Ernest Holmested, young adventurers who were travelling  the southern hemisphere in search of an opportunity to establish a sheep farming enterprise. Having visited New Zealand, Australia and Patagonia, in 1868 they were leasing New Island. They moved their sheep from New Island on to Shallow Bay, a very basic house was built and farm buildings erected. Bertrand took work at Darwin to help fund the enterprise and met and married Catherine Felton. The family returned to Shallow Bay and a second child was born. In 1871 the partnership between Holmested and Bertrand was not working, after a trip back to England they went their separate ways agreeing to split the debts, land and stock. Holmested remained living at Shallow Bay and Bertrand went on to establish Roy Cove. Holmested took on a new partner 'Rees' whose wife arrived and a house was built for them, however they did not stay as she could not settle and Rees sold out to Robert Blake, a brother-in-law of F E Cobb of the Falkland Islands Co. Ltd., Darwin. Blake took a trip to England, married, and with his new wife Dora returned to Hill Cove. Blake started the settlement at Hill Cove, living in a shepherd’s house near Roy Cove border with another family the ‘Huttons’ while their house was being built. The shearing shed (ready for the 1882-83 season) and farm buildings were built at the Point, and Blake’s fine new house at the top settlement overlooking Byron Sound was finished by 1888. Blake was dynamic and 75 miles of fencing was erected in eight years. Stock was improved and Holmested and Blake wool brought top prices at the wool sales. Gauchos were employed to kill the wild cattle that broke the fences and competed with the sheep for grass. Upland geese were also reduced in numbers as they too took a lot of grass. In 1876 the last 'warrah', the last Falklands 'fox' was killed at Shallow Bay and they were extinct. (In 1869/70 Holmested wrote 'my best hen got nailed by a fox'). Shallow Bay settlement was relocated to the west side of the bay.
Holmested and his family stayed at Shallow Bay until they returned to England in 1891, and Blake and his family followed in 1898. Hill Cove, owned by Holmested Blake & Company was from then on developed by a succession of managers including Sydney Miller senior, and became a fine sheep farm carrying 32,000 sheep.
During the 1980’s the Falkland Islands Development Corporation bought Hill Cove and sub-divided it into eight smaller farms. Most were bought by former long term employees of Hill Cove, a condition being that priority should be given to them when Holmested Blake & Company sold it.

Sources include: Report on the Blue Book for 1888/89, Unspoilt Beauty of the Falkland Islands -Algernon Asprey text by Phyllis Rendall, Falkland Rural Heritage- Joan Spruce with Natalie Smith, fig.gov.fk/Jane Cameron National Archives /Buildings/ Land/General/Early leases of land post 1842, fig.gov.fk/Jane Cameron National Archives /People/19century families, The Dictionary of Falklands Biography (including South Georgia) - Edited by David Tatham,

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