Lizard (), also known as The Lizard, The Lizard Town, or The Lizard Village, is a village on the Lizard peninsula in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is situated about south of

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

, and is mainland

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's most southerly settlement. Lizard is a tourist centre and its large

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

is surrounded by cafes and gift shops. The name derives from the Cornish ''lys'' for 'court' and ''ardh'' for 'high'. The village is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Landewednack Landewednack ( (hamlet) or (parish)) is a civil parish and an area of The Lizard in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated approximately south of Helston.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Landewednack ...

, the most southerly parish on the British mainland.GENUKI website; Landewednack
retrieved April 2010 The village of Lizard is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as a relatively small settlement and lying within the hundred of Winnianton. The parish church is dedicated to St Winwaloe and is the most southerly in mainland

. It is built of local

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

stone (see

Lizard complex The Lizard complex, Cornwall is generally accepted to represent a preserved example of an exposed ophiolite complex in the United Kingdom. The rocks found in The Lizard area are analogous to those found in such famous areas as the Troodos Mount ...

for more information on the peninsula's geology) and is situated in the hamlet of Landewednack, now a suburb of Lizard village.

Lizard Lighthouse The Lizard Lighthouse () is a lighthouse at Lizard Point, Cornwall, England, built to guide vessels passing through the English Channel. It was often the welcoming beacon to persons returning to England, where on a clear night, the reflected li ...

, the oldest mainland light in Cornwall, is situated half-a-mile (800 m) south of the village. It has twin towers and was erected in 1752 although there had been a light here since 1619. The Lizard Lifeboat Station, operated by the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

, is situated at Kilcobben Cove half-a-mile (800 m) east of the village. The

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

was first spotted from near Lizard village in 1588. Cornish Cross in The Lizard - geograph

There is a

Cornish cross Breed broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaug ...

in the village.Langdon, A. G. (1896) ''Old Cornish Crosses''. Truro: Joseph Pollard; p. 276

References

Lizard Peninsula Villages in Cornwall {{Cornwall-geo-stub