The Lizard Pastures and The Oxford, have been cared for by a succession of Charitable Foundations for over 200 years.
The Lizard Charity’s written documents go back to 1816, and make references to the Lord Chancellor, in 1724, making a decree about who had the right to pasture on The Lizard. The record of this decree indicates that the trust was already in existence at a much earlier period, indeed, ‘before the memory of man.’
Our present-day remit is the Charity Commission’s scheme which was consolidated and approved in 1954, that:
The Trustees may permit the land known as The Lizard Pastures to be used for the general benefit and enjoyment of the inhabitants of the Parish of Wymondham as a public recreation ground or otherwise as the Trustees see fit.
In 2016, the Trustees agreed a Mission Statement:
“The Lizard Charity manages The Lizard Pastures as a piece of informal, natural countryside for the general benefit
and enjoyment of the people of Wymondham.”
The Lizard has always been valued by Wymondham’s residents. This article (Norfolk & Suffolk Express Series, April 8, 1988) tells the story of how residents and others came together to prevent the first Wymondham bypass being built through it.
You can view the current information held about the Lizard Charity by the Charities Commission here.