Caerthillian to Kennack is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the

Lizard Peninsula The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, UK, noted for both its biological and

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

characteristics. It is of great botanical importance, with several Red Data Book of rare and endangered plant species being found on the site, as well as a breeding site for Cornish choughs.

Geography

The site straddles the south coast of the

, covering the most southerly point of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mainland, from Caerthillian Cove in the west to Kennack Sands in the east, within the civil parishes of

Grade–Ruan Grade–Ruan is a civil parish on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately ten miles (16 km) south of Falmouth. It is a rural parish bounded to the east by St Keverne parish and by the sea; to the west by ...

and

Landewednack Landewednack ( kw, Lanndewynnek) is a civil parish and a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated approximately ten miles (16 km) south of Helston.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Landewed ...

.Ordnance Survey: Explorer map sheet 103 ''The Lizard'' The South West Coast Path runs through the SSSI and most of the coastline is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The site falls partly within the Lizard national nature reserve and contains two

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

locations.

History

The SSSI, first notified in 1951, was previously known as ''South and East Lizard'' SSSI. It was renamed after boundary expansions and deletions. The rocks off the coast are a notorious hazard to shipping and have led to numerous shipwrecks. The Lizard Lifeboat Station is located within the SSSI.

Geology

The area's bedrock is part of the

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 Mounta ...

, an

ophiolite An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is found ...

complex, and includes micaceous and

hornblende Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rock ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

that is overlain by serpentinized peridotite and

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...

with intrusions of

granite gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

.The Lizard
Camborne School of Mines Virtual Museum, accessed 5 December 2011

Wildlife and ecology

Flora

The site hosts an unusual assemblage of vegetation types and a large number of rare plant species due to the combination of a mild, moist climate that results from its proximity to the ocean; geologic conditions, including serpentine-derived soils which can constrain plant growth; and wind exposure. Botanists have suggested that the site's climate is a more important contributor to its floral diversity than its geology. A variety of habitats exist within the site. To the south-west of the SSSI a number of maritime cliff communities exist which support vegetation such as sea aster,

rock samphire ''Crithmum'' is a monospecific genus of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, with the sole species ''Crithmum maritimum'', known as rock samphire, sea fennel or samphire. The name "samphire" is also used for several other unrela ...

(''Crithmum maritimum'') and sea thrift with

red fescue ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue or creeping red fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in ...

, sea carrot ('' Daucus carota''),

Yorkshire fog ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial grass. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In North America, where it is an invasive sp ...

, cock's-foot (''

Dactylis glomerata ''Dactylis Glomerata'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released in 1998. This was their first album released since their split in 1994. The album was originally destined to be the second release by Candlemass m ...

'') and the nationally rare ''

Scilla autumnalis ''Prospero autumnale'', the autumn squill, an autumnal flowering plant of the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, is found in the Mediterranean region from Portugal and Morocco east to Turkey and the Caucasus, plus Great Britain. Despite ...

'' being found further up the cliff profile. The eastern side of the site is protected from the prevailing westerly winds on the Atlantic meaning that less hardy plants are able to grow in areas of cliff scrub. Species include blackthorn (''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

'') common gorse (''

Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...

''), wild privet (''

Ligustrum vulgare ''Ligustrum vulgare'' (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of '' Ligustrum'' native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to ...

'') as well as more woodland plants of common dog-violet (''

Viola riviniana ''Viola riviniana'', the common dog-violet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae, native to Eurasia and Africa. It is also called wood violet and dog violet. It inhabits woodland edges, grassland and shady hedge banks. It is f ...

''), common honeysuckle (''

Lonicera periclymenum ''Lonicera periclymenum'', common names honeysuckle, common honeysuckle, European honeysuckle, or woodbine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae native to much of Europe, North Africa, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is found ...

''), hart's-tongue (''

Phyllitis scolopendrium ''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the genus ''Asplenium'' native to the Northern Hemisphere. Description The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, undivided fron ...

'') and red campion (''

Silene dioica ''Silene dioica'' ( syn. ''Melandrium rubrum''), known as red campion and red catchfly, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe. It has ...

''). Three plants that are designated as nationally scarce, galingale (''

Cyperus longus ''Cyperus longus'' is a species of sedge known by the common names of sweet cyperus and water rush in Africa, or in Britain galingale (a variant name of galangal, an unrelated plant). It is a tall plant, growing up to in height, with creeping r ...

''), yellow-vetch ('' Vicia lutea'') and bird’s-foot clover (''Trifolium ornithopodioides'' a variety of ''

Trifolium repens ''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg., E.F. 1968. ''Excursio ...

''), can be found in a disused

serpentinite Serpentinite is a rock composed predominantly of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. Serpentinite has been called ''serpentine'' or ''se ...

quarry at Church Cove. The only cliff woodland of the Lizard Peninsula is in the locality of the Devil’s Frying Pan, an old collapsed sea cave. This woodland contains

Cornish elm The field elm cultivar ''Ulmus minor'' 'Stricta', known as Cornish elm, was commonly found in South West England (Cornwall and West Devon), Brittany, and south-west Ireland, until the arrival of Dutch elm disease in the late 1960s. The origin o ...

, Dutch elm and an intermediate variety of elm. Other woodland areas occur around the windswept peninsula at Poltesco. Red Data Book of rare and endangered plant species within the site include

Cornish heath ''Erica vagans'', the Cornish heath or wandering heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to Ireland, Cornwall, western France and Spain. It is a vigorous, spreading, evergreen heather reaching tall and wide, with ...

(''Erica vagans''), early meadow-grass ('' Poa infirma''), fringed rupturewort ('' Herniaria ciliolata''), long-headed clover (a subspecies of '' Trifolium incarnatum'') and wild asparagus (a subspecies of ''

Asparagus officinalis Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

''). There are only two populations of four-leaved allseed (''

Polycarpon tetraphyllum ''Polycarpon tetraphyllum'', commonly known as four-leaved allseed (also fourleaf allseed or fourleaf manyseed), is a plant of the family Caryophyllaceae. An annual herb growing to 15 cm in height, it is found on sandy soils, in coastal area ...

'') to be found within mainland

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, one of which exists at this SSSI.

Fauna

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax -Penwith -Cornwall -flying-8b

A breeding pair of Cornish choughs (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), a rare crow–like bird in Cornwall, have produced clutches of eggs in a cave at Lizard Point, within the site. In 2002 this pair was the first choughs to breed in the county in 50 years, with other pairs around Cornwall having bred since.

References

{{SSSIs Cornwall geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1951 Nature Conservation Review sites National Trust properties in Cornwall Lizard Peninsula