Cadgwith (Cornish: Porthkajwydh,[1] meaning cove of the thicket) is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

The village has its origins in medieval times as a collection of fish cellars in a sheltered south-east facing coastal valley with a shingle cove.

Subsequently, houses, lofts, capstan houses, and cellars constructed of local stone or cob walls and thatched or slated roofs were built along the beach and up the sides of the valley leading to Cadgwith's characteristic Cornish fishing village appearance.

In recent times a very small Anglican church was built, next to the path from the car park down to the seafront, dedicated to St Mary.

[6] Cadgwith has two beaches separated by a promontory called "The Todden", thought to mean laying ground in Cornish.

Due to overfishing and climate changes pilchards are no longer found in large enough numbers to sustain pilchard fishing in Cadgwith, instead brown edible crabs, spider crabs, lobsters, sharks, monkfish, and conger eel are regularly landed with most being sold abroad through fish merchants but some being sold locally by the fishmonger, café, public house, and seafood snack shop.

The Lizard Peninsula has a treacherous coastline due to a combination of submerged rocks and weather factors (gales, storms, or fog).

She holds the record for the greatest number of lives saved from one rescue: 227 lives were saved from the SS Suevic on the night of 17/18 March 1907 which was wrecked in fog and gales on The Stag Rocks on the Maenheere Reef, off Lizard Point.

[11] Two silver RNLI gallantry medals were awarded to members of the Cadgwith lifeboat crew: Edwin Rutter, Coxswain Superintendent and Rev.

Originally destined for the Cromer Station, she took part in the Dunkirk evacuations in 1940 where she sustained bullet holes and other damage.

[9] Tourism is the major source of income in the village nowadays, due to the decline in the fishing industry, and many of the houses are let as holiday accommodation.

The South West Coast Path traverses the village and is regularly used as destination to stop over and gain refreshment.

Along the coast path walking towards The Lizard has an interesting feature known as The Devil's Frying Pan, a cave whose roof collapsed leaving its entrance as a bridge and a boulder-filled bay which is seen to 'boil' during rough weather.