The Lizard: what makes it special?
The Lizard peninsula, near Helston in Cornwall, covers 15,000 hectares and is the most southerly part of the British mainland.
It’s a unique landscape of extensive heathlands and spectacular sea cliffs, and home to a wealth of wildlife – in fact, over 250 species of national or international importance are found here.
Much of it is internationally protected by Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest designations. The Lizard National Nature Reserve covers 2000 hectares of these prime habitats.
A key factor behind the remarkable flora that covers so much of the reserve is the mild climate which makes snow and frosts very rare. However, storms and gales are common and salt spray affects the whole peninsula. Some plants, such as the prostrate asparagus, have adapted to this by developing unusual stunted varieties.
Rocks from beneath the earth’s crust
The extraordinary rocks which form the Lizard are another key ingredient in the area’s uniqueness. They erupted from the earth’s core 400 million years ago and now appear as a series of multicoloured layers on the southern tip of Cornwall. These rocks – including serpentine, schists, gabbro and gneiss – all have a strong influence on the local flora.
Serpentine is particularly distinctive and named after its resemblance to the skin of reptiles.
Coastal Cliffs
The coast is a spectacular mixture of outcrops, caves and offshore islands. In early summer the cliff-top grasslands are carpeted with flowers such as squill, vetches, trefoils, thrift and oxeye daisies.
Rarer plants include green-winged orchid, wild chives, spring sandwort and the strange-sounding fringed rupturewort, and 13 species of clover can be found.
The cliffs are also a good place from which to see seals, ravens, kittiwakes, kestrels, peregrines and even choughs.
The return of the Cornish chough
In 2001, three choughs arrived on the Lizard. Two were soon nesting and reared their first young a year later, making them the first choughs to breed in England for 50 years. Now flocks of up to a dozen birds can be seen on the west coast of The Lizard, thanks largely to the efforts of conservation groups who have worked to secure more, and better quality, grazed coastlands, which are ideal for chough and many other species.
Mullion and Predannack Cliffs
In early summer these high cliffs, near the village of Mullion on the west coast of the peninsula, are covered in flowers, while July sees the heathers and western gorse begin to flower. Grazing by Shetland ponies and by cattle helps to maintain this fantastic floral display. This is also a good place to see stonechats, seabirds, ravens and possibly even a peregrine falcon.
Kynance Farm
This farm, 2km north west of Lizard Point, is a stunningly beautiful spot, with a cove, turquoise sea, islands, caves and rugged serpentine cliffs, coastal grassland and lowland heathland.
It also boasts some rare and exotic-sounding plants including wild asparagus, hairy greenweed, land quillwort and autumn squill. Highland cattle range widely across this wild landscape, which is also a good place to see (and hear) choughs.
Caerthillian
Between Kynance and Lizard Point this area of maritime grassland is famous for its rare clovers, many with strange names such as ‘twin-headed’ and ‘suffocated’. In the mid 19th century this is where the pioneering botanist Reverend Johns performed his famous “hat-trick”. Because so many rare clovers and associated plants grow here, he was able to cover at least ten species with his straw hat.
Gwendreath and Kennack Sands
Near the hamlet of Kuggar, on the east coast of the peninsula, this is one of the finest and most accessible beaches on The Lizard. The area is famous for its geological features such as red serpentine pebbles and exposed bands of gneiss.
This is also a great spot for rock-pooling if the tides are low and in summer, the world’s second-largest fish, the plankton-eating basking shark, can often be seen just off shore. For the more energetic a walk inland can take you past old quarries, across grazed heaths, and along the wooded elm valley.
Inland heaths
The Lizard soils are generally low in nutrients and of limited use for arable farming, so extensive tracts of heathland remain. These support a diverse range of heathers but are dominated by the rare Cornish heath, a type unique to the area. Cattle now range most of these heathland sites between May and October.
Ancient water-filled cart tracks as well as shallow pools are found across the heaths and support rare plants, as well as a wide variety of dragonflies. They are also spawning ground for toads, newts and frogs.
Early summer brings carpets of orchids and violets, while in July and August heather and gorse come into full flower. Four native species of heather grow here – ling, bell heather, cross-leaved heath and the nationally rare Cornish heath. Cornish heath is often the most abundant species due to its close association with the magnesium-rich serpentine rock. Look out too for harebells, dropwort and great burnet.
The open heaths provide good hunting for many birds of prey including buzzards, barn owls and sometimes rarer species such as hen harrier and short-eared owl.
Main Dale
This inland site is an area of heath 1.5 km south of St Keverne, on the eastern side of the peninsula. The heath is scattered with gabbro boulders, known as crusairs.
This is another good place to see the four different types of heather and in the spring look out for heath-spotted orchids and a yellow haze of bog asphodel in summer.
Goonhilly Downs
In the centre of the peninsula, this area of heath is best visited in the summer when the heather and gorse are in full flower.
Buzzards, owls and other birds of prey hunt across the downs. In summer the open pools hum to the sound of dragonflies, while adders and lizards bask on sunny bare ground and rocks. The area is dominated by the giant satellite dishes of Goonhilly Earth Station.
Managing the reserve for wildlife
To conserve and promote the unique wildlife of the heaths and grasslands Natural England works in partnership with local farmers and landowners to ensure a cycle of seasonal grazing, and controlled burning on the heath.
About 80% of the reserve is now grazed at varying times of the year. Hardy traditional breeds are often used, such as Welsh Black and highland cattle, or Shetland and Exmoor ponies.
