The Lizard Lifeboat Station
RNLI Lifeboat Station in Cornwall, England
The Lizard Lifeboat Station refers to several Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat stations located on the Lizard in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The first was established at the southernmost point of the peninsula in 1859. Since then successive stations have all been in operation at different locations on The Lizard. The current station is located at Kilcobben Cove 0.5 mi (0.80 km) east of the village of Lizard.
The lifeboat stations have all covered the westerly approaches to the English Channel; with up to 400 ships-a-day, it is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The lifeboat service has saved many lives over the past 150 years.
History
Polpeor Cove (1859–1961)
First station
The RNLI established its first lifeboat at the southern tip of The Lizard in 1859. The station, which cost £120 to build, was located atop the cliffs above Polpeor Cove about 0.6 mi (0.97 km) south of the village of Lizard. It was inaugurated after the 740-ton steamer, Czar, foundered on the Vrogue Rock, off Bass Point on 22 January 1859. The government transport ship was taking ammunition and uniforms to Malta.
The public source identifies “The Lizard Lifeboat Station” as rNLI Lifeboat Station in Cornwall, England. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lizard, Lifeboat and Station.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Lizard Lifeboat Station”, the useful work is to connect “rNLI Lifeboat Station in Cornwall, England” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7747919. Authority coordinates are 49.969, -5.187. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1859 and 1961.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Lizard Lifeboat Station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Lizard Lifeboat Station primary sources, The Lizard Lifeboat Station archive and Lizard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “The Lizard Lifeboat Station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.