Quoin Bluff

The bluff was the site of a small garrison placed there by the Governor of Western Australia in 1850 to protect the guano deposits on Egg Island and other small islands nearby from being illegally exploited by foreign vessels while it was being legally mined.

The garrison of 15 soldiers of the 99th Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant L. R. Elliot, arrived from Champion Bay in October and established a camp, named Irwin Station, consisting of a wooden building and tents.

A 100-metre (330 ft) stone jetty was built into Herald Bay at the same time, the remains of which are now submerged at high tide.

The camp was moved in May and, as the guano deposits were becoming exhausted, the garrison was recalled to Fremantle in July 1851.

Together with a similar colony on Freycinet Island some 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south-east, it supports between 5,000 and 10,000 birds – over one per cent of the world population of the species.