The Lizard

Coordinates: 50°02′N 5°11′W / 50.033°N 5.183°W / 50.033; -5.183
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Cornish peninsula. For the village of the same name on the peninsula, see Lizard (village).
For other uses, see Lizard (disambiguation).

50°02′N 5°11′W / 50.033°N 5.183°W / 50.033; -5.183

Lizard Point
Lizard Point

The Lizard (

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).[4]

The Lizard's coast is particularly hazardous to shipping and the seaways round the peninsula were historically known as the "Graveyard of Ships" (see below). The

The Lizard lifeboat station
.

Etymology

The name "Lizard" is most probably a corruption of the Cornish name "Lys Ardh", meaning "high court";[5] it is purely coincidental that much of the peninsula is composed of serpentinite-bearing rock. The peninsula's original name may have been the Celtic Bridanoc, from Britannakon ("the "British one"), preserved in the name of the former village of Predannack, now site of Predannack Airfield.[6]

History

There is evidence of early habitation with several

burial mounds and stones. Part of the peninsula is known as the Meneage
(land of the monks).

last ice age, blocking the river and creating a barrier beach. The beach is formed mostly of flint and the nearest source is found offshore under the drowned terraces of the former river that flowed between England and France, and now under the English Channel.[8] The medieval port of Helston was at Gweek, possibly from around 1260 onwards, on the Helford river which exported tin and copper. Helston was believed to be in existence in the sixth century, around the River Cober (Dowr Kohar).[9]
The name comes from the Cornish "hen lis" or "old court" and "ton" added later to denote a Saxon manor; the
stannary towns were authorised by royal decree.[citation needed
]

The royal manor of Winnianton, which was held by King William I at the time of the

Trelowarren, Mawgan-in-Meneage and seventeen other lands are also recorded under Winnianton.[13]

Mullion has the 15th century church of St Mellanus, and the Old Inn from the 16th century. The harbour was completed in 1895 and financed by Lord Robartes of Lanhydrock as a recompense to the fishermen for several disastrous pilchard seasons.

Coverack is a coastal village on the eastern side of the Lizard (2017)

The small church of St Peter in Coverack, built in 1885 for £500, has a serpentinite pulpit.

The Great Western Railway operated a road motor service to The Lizard from Helston railway station. Commencing on 17 August 1903, it was the first successful British railway-run bus service and was initially provided as a cheaper alternative to a proposed light railway.

The

Solar eclipse of 11 August 1999
departed the UK mainland from the Lizard.

The transatlantic record run of the unaccompanied one hand sailor Thomas Coville within less than 5 days in his sailboat Sodebo Ultim from New York, USA, to Europe landed here on 15 July 2017.[14]

Nautical

The Lizard has been the site of many maritime disasters. It forms a natural obstacle to entry and exit of Falmouth and its naturally deep estuary. At Lizard Point stands the

Sir John Killigrew by his own expense: It was built at the cost of "20 nobles a year" for 30 years, but it caused an uproar over the following years, as King James I considered charging vessels to pass. This caused so many problems that the lighthouse was demolished, but was successfully rebuilt in 1751 by order of Thomas Fonnereau and remains almost unchanged today. Further east lie The Manacles, near Porthoustock
: 1+1⁄2 square miles (4 km2) of jagged rocks just beneath the waves.

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 Cornwall. In a strong gale and dense fog RNLI lifeboat volunteers rescued 456 passengers, including 70 babies. Crews from the Lizard, Cadgwith, Coverack and Porthleven rowed out repeatedly for 16 hours to rescue all of the people on board. Six silver RNLI medals were later awarded, two to Suevic crew members.[16]

The

Battle at the Lizard
, a naval battle, took place off The Lizard on 21 October 1707.

Smuggling was a regular, and often necessary, way of life in these parts, despite the efforts of

coastguards or "Preventive men". In 1801, the king's pardon
was offered to any smuggler giving information on the Mullion musket men involved in a gunfight with the crew of HM Gun Vessel Hecate.

Avionic

In the

U-boats
. One was sunk and several probably damaged by bombs dropped by the blimps. The airfield site is now occupied by the wind farm.

RAF Predannack Down (see

Coastal Command squadrons flew anti-submarine sorties into the Bay of Biscay as well as convoy support in the western English Channel. The runways still exist and the site is used by a local Air Cadet Volunteergliding Squadron 626VGS and as an emergency/relief base for RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk)
.

RNAS Culdrose is Europe's largest

BAe Hawk T.1 trainer jets used for training purposes by the Royal Navy. The base also operates some other types of fixed wing aircraft for calibration and other training purposes. As befits the base's name, a non-flying example of a Hawker Sea Hawk
forms the main gate guardian static display. RNAS Culdrose is a major contributor to the economy of The Lizard area.

Political

Sketchmap of civil parishes on The Lizard

The Lizard peninsula is in the St Ives parliamentary constituency (which comprises the whole of the former district of Penwith and the southern part of the former district of Kerrier). However, the parishes northeast of the Helford River are in Camborne and Redruth parliamentary constituency

To the north, The Lizard peninsula is bordered by the

Constantine, Kerrier and Mawnan
.

The parishes on the peninsula proper are (west to east):

The Lizard's political history includes the 1497

Cornish rebellion which began in St Keverne. The village blacksmith Michael Joseph (Michael An Gof in Cornish, meaning blacksmith) led the uprising, protesting against the punitive taxes levied by Henry VII to pay for the war against the Scots. The uprising was routed on its march to London and the two leaders, Michael Joseph and Thomas Flamank
, were subsequently hanged, drawn and quartered.

Technological

Titanium was discovered here by the Reverend William Gregor in 1791.

In 1869, John Pender formed the Falmouth Gibraltar and Malta Telegraph company, intending to connect India to England with an undersea cable. Although intended to land at Falmouth, the final landing point was Porthcurno near Land's End.

In 1900

satellites and the internet.[17]

A radar station called

earth station, now owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd
. Some important developments in television satellite transmission were made at Goonhilly station. A wind farm exists near to the Goonhilly station site.

Geology

Main article:
Lizard Complex
Sketchmap of The Lizard geology

Known as the

Lizard Complex, the peninsula's geology is the best preserved example of an exposed ophiolite
in the United Kingdom.

An ophiolite is a suite of geological formations which represent a slice through a section of ocean crust (including the upper level of the mantle) thrust onto the continental crust.

The Lizard formations comprise three main units; the serpentinites, the "oceanic complex" and the metamorphic basement.[18] The serpentinite contains significant samples of the serpentine polymorph lizardite, which were named after the Lizard complex in 1955.[19]

Ecology

Several nature sites exist on the Lizard Peninsula; Predannack nature reserve,

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), both noted for their endangered insects and plants, as well as their geology. The first is East Lizard Heathlands SSSI, the second is Caerthillian to Kennack SSSI and the third is West Lizard SSSI, of which the important wetland, Hayle Kimbro Pool, forms a part of.[21][22]

The area is also home to one of England's rarest breeding birds — the

RSPB
.

The Lizard contains some of the most specialised flora of any area in Britain, including many

narrow-headed ant
), can be found.

Portrayal in literature, film and music

Daphne du Maurier based many novels on this part of Cornwall, including Frenchman's Creek.

The Lizard was featured on the BBC television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the South West, and on the BBC series Coast.

In James Clavell's novel Shōgun, ship's pilot Vasco Rodrigues challenges John Blackthorne to recite the latitude of the Lizard to verify that Blackthorne is the Pilot of the Dutch vessel Erasmus.

The Jennifer McQuiston 2015 novel The Spinster's Guide to Scandalous Behavior is set primarily in the fictional village Lizard Bay on the Lizard in the mid-nineteenth century.

In the television adaptation of "

Hornblower:Mutiny
.

"Lizard Point" is also a track on the 1982 album Ambient 4: On Land released by Brian Eno.

The book series "Fenton House" by Ben Cheetham is set on the Lizard Peninsula.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-319-23148-7
  2. ISBN 978-0-319-23149-4
  3. ^ NCA Profile:157: The Lizard (NE434) at publications.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 8 September 2013
  4. ISBN 1 85022 071 9
    .
  5. ISBN 0-7525-1851-8
    .
  6. Padel, O.J.
    "Cornish Place Names", page 146.
  7. ^ "Helston, Cornwall on the river Cober". www.cornwall-calling.co.uk.
  8. ^ May, V.J. "Loe Bar". In May, V. J. and Hansom, J. D. (2003) Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain, (Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 28), 754 pp. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.
  9. ^ A Short History of Helston – Helston History
  10. Padel, O.J.
    "Cornish Place Names", p. 96.
  11. ^ Toy, "History of Helston"
  12. ^ Conder, Kelly (October 2012). "Notes From Members' Evening 2011. Gunwalloe and King Dunvallo" (PDF). Cornwall Archaeological Society Newsletter (130): 3–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  13. ^ Thorn, Caroline, et al. (eds.) Cornwall. Chichester: Phillimore; entry 1,1
  14. ^ Segler stellt Rekord für Atlantik-Einzelüberquerung auf orf.at, 16 July 2017, retrieved 16 July 2017 (German)
  15. ^ "Lizard Peninsula: Coverack and Area". Cornwall on line. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  16. ^ "Biggest RNLI rescue is remembered". 11 March 2007 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  17. ISSN 0070-024X
    .
  18. ^ Kirby, G. A. (1979). "The Lizard Complex as an ophiolite". Nature, London, 282, pp. 58–61.
  19. ^ "Lizardite: Mineral information, data and localities". www.mindat.org.
  20. ^ "The Lizard NNR". Natural England. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  21. ^ "East Lizard Heathlands" (PDF). Natural England. 1995. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  22. ^ "West Lizard" (PDF). Natural England. 1995. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  23. ^ "The Lizard Guidebook". pp. 21.
  24. ^ "The Lizard Guidebook". pp. 21–37.

Further reading

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