The Lizard is a peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall, and its southernmost point, Lizard Point, is the most southerly tip of England. It is an area of spectacular natural beauty, with high cliffs and rugged coves. The name comes from the Cornish lys ardh 'high point', not from the animal.
It is bounded on the north by the Helford River, a wide tidal inlet or ria. In the centre of the Lizard is Goonhilly Downs with its large space tracking station. On the west coast the highlight is Kynance Cove, a National Trust property of huge beautiful rocks emerging from the sea. On the east coast is the village of Cadgwith, the perfectly idyllic and picturesque Cornish fishing village, with boats drawn up on the shingle, and thatched cottages. At Lizard Point itself is a lighthouse, dating from 1752, and the town of Lizard seems to live by selling serpentine souvenirs to tourists. The geology of the peninsula is unique in England, in that it is composed of serpentine, which occurs nowhere else in the country.
From Poldhu the first trans-Atlantic radio message (the Morse code ... or S) was transmitted in 1901, to Marconi in Newfoundland.