Lizard Point, Cornwall
Lizard Point
| |
---|---|
Southernmost part of Lizard Point | |
Location within Cornwall | |
OS grid reference | SW695115 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Postcode district | TR12 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Cornwall |
Ambulance | South Western |
Lizard Point (from Cornish an Lysardh 'the high court') in Cornwall is at the southern tip of the Lizard Peninsula. It is situated half-a-mile (800 m) south of Lizard village in the civil parish of Landewednack and about 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Helston.[1]
Lizard Point is the most southerly point on mainland Great Britain at 49° 57' 30" N.
History and geography
Lizard Point is for many ships the starting point of their ocean passage and a well known shipping hazard. The
The area is famous for its carved
The first sighting of the
The
Sinking of Ardgarry
The 1,074 gross ton bulk coaster carrier MV Ardgarry (1957) was lost in a heavy storm, in over 30 ft (9m) high waves, off Lizard Point on 29 December 1962. All 12 crewmen perished and were never found.[10] She was built by James Lamont & Co at the Port Glasgow shipyard.[11][12] The Ardgarry was carrying coal from Swansea and headed to Rouen in France. Six of the crew were from Northern Ireland, five from Scotland, and one from Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.[13] Found again in 2006, the ship's bell was recovered, and a memorial service was held by family members in August 2008.[14]
Bugaled Breizh sinking
On 15 January 2004 the French fishing trawler Bugaled Breizh (child of Brittany) sank off Lizard Point with the loss of five lives. There were claims at the time by French marine accident experts that the vessel may have been pulled under when her nets became entangled in a British or Dutch submarine which was conducting NATO exercises in the area at the time.[15]
Lifeboat service
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Disused_lifeboat_slipway%2C_Polpeor_Cove_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1705882.jpg/220px-Disused_lifeboat_slipway%2C_Polpeor_Cove_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1705882.jpg)
The
The biggest rescue in the RNLI's history was 17 March 1907 when the 12,000 tonne liner SS Suevic hit the Maenheere Reef near Lizard Point. In a strong gale and dense fog RNLI lifeboat volunteers rescued 456 passengers, including seventy babies. Crews from The Lizard, Cadgwith, Coverack and Porthleven rowed out repeatedly for sixteen hours to rescue all of the people on board. Six silver RNLI medals were later awarded, two to Suevic crew members.[18]
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Land's End, westernmost point of mainland England
- Marshall Meadows Bay, northernmost point of England
- Ness Point, easternmost point of England
References
- ISBN 978-0-319-23148-7
- W & R Chambers Ltd. 1860. p. 62.
- ^ "Caerthillian to Kennack" (PDF). Natural England. 1993. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ Ordnance Survey Landranger Series of Great Britain; Land's End, The Lizard & The Isles of Scilly, sheet 203. 1983
- ^ Dickens, Charles (9 September 1854). "Cornish Stone". Household Words: A Weekly Journal. 10 (233): 96.
- ISBN 978-0-19-822139-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8021-1386-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3809-9.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-5701-7.
- ^ "5 Saved in Ship Fire: 2 Vessels Missing with 22", Chicago Tribune, p. 1, 5 January 1963
- ^ mv ARDGARRY, Clydeships.co.uk
- ^ Lloyd's register of shipping: Register book. Register of ships, Volume 2, 1958, p. 71
- The Belfast Telegraph, 6 January 2008
- ^ Family memorial to lost sailors, BBC News Online, 10 August 2008
- ^ "French trawler Bugaled Breizh 'was sunk by sub'", BBC News Online, 24 March 2005
- ^ "Lifeboat Station : The Lizard". RNLI.org.uk. Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ "The story of our station". The Lizard Lifeboat. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ Biggest RNLI rescue is remembered, BBC News Online, 11 March 2007