LandewednackCornwall

Landewednack at a glance

Lizard and Landewednack: mainland Britain's most southerly village and parish

This guide covers Lizard village and the parish of Landewednack around it. Lizard (Lysardh in Cornish, also called The Lizard) is a village on the Lizard peninsula, about 10 miles south of Helston. It is mainland Britain's most southerly settlement, and the only mainland UK settlement below 50 degrees north. Landewednack is the most southerly parish on the British mainland, and had 906 residents at the 2011 census.

The name comes from Cornish words meaning court and high. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Lizard as a relatively small settlement. Today the village is a tourist centre, with a large village green surrounded by cafes and gift shops. There is a Cornish cross in the village.

The parish church, dedicated to St Winwaloe, is the most southerly church in mainland Britain and is built of local serpentinite stone. It stands in the hamlet of Landewednack, now a suburb of Lizard village. Caerthillian cove and beach lie on the western border of the parish.

Lizard Lighthouse is the oldest mainland light in Cornwall. It lies half a mile south of the village and has twin towers, erected in 1752, although a light had existed there since 1619. The Lizard Lifeboat Station, run by the RNLI, is at Kilcobben Cove, half a mile east of the village. The Spanish Armada was first spotted from near Lizard village in 1588.