The reason for the building of a settlement here is probably the Pipe Well in Well Lane. Its first written mention dates from the 14th century and referred to in old documents as "The Well of Lyskiret " or "The Well of St Martins". The water of the well, fed by four springs and never known to have run dry and, like most Cornish wells, is meant to bring luck in matrimony. It was also believed to possess miraculous healing powers and would cure "weak eyes".

The parish church,   dedicated to St Martin, is the second largest in Cornwall. It dates mainly from the 15th century although it contains traces of earlier, some dating back to the Norman period. The tower replaces one demolished in 1902.

Methodism has flourished here, as elsewhere in Cornwall and was introduced by a visit from John Wesley in 1757. The present Methodist Chapel has a magnificent plaster ceiling incorporating the coat of arms of the town.

The Presbyterian church was built in 1701.

Quakerism was introduced here George Fox himself. Until it burned down in 1899, the Friends Meeting House stood in Friends Place, off Pound Street.

The Roman Catholic church, dedicated to Our Lady and St Neot was built in 1863.

There has been a Citadel of the Salvation Army in Liskeard since 1887.

The Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses is a recentaddition in the south of the town.

The Guildhall,   with its clock tower, replaced Liskeard's former Town Hall in 1859. It was used untilrecently as a Magistrates' Court.

Foresters Hall,   built in 1896, houses the Town Museum.

The Public Hall,   built in 1890, houses the Town Council Offices and serves as a venue for a range of community activities.

The Stuart House   adjacent to the library was used as a lodging by King Charles I in 1644 during a military campaign of the civil war. Recently restored and opened on June 6th, 2002 by HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, it used as a venue for arts and heritage events.

The first known documentary reference to Liskeard is in the Domesday Book of 1086. The town's first charter dates from 1240 and was followed by seventeen others.

A castle was built near the parish church in the 13th century but is long-gone.

Liskeard was one of Cornwall's original "stannary", "coineage" or tin assaying town since the 1307. The growth of Liskeard from a small medieval town was due to the mining industry with its hey-day in the 19th century. Rich copper, tin and lead deposits were found around Caradon Hill to the north of the town in 1836. Tin mining and its associated industries generated the wealth which built the many fine buildings of Liskeard.

As a stannary town, tin ignots were assayed here for the duty to be paid to the Duchy of Cornwall. The ingots were weighed and a "coign" (corner) was struck off to be assayed (for their tin content).

The Liskeard-Looe Union Canal was built in 1828 to link the town to Looe for the carriage of ore and stone. The canal was replaced by a railway which is now the Looe Valley Line - a single track branch line which runs along scenic wooded riverbanks.

Liskeard Poor Law Union was formed in 1837, serving the parishes of Bocconoc, Broadoak, Callington, Calstock, Duloe, East Looe, Lanreath, Lanselloes, Lantegloes-by-Fowey, Linkinhorne , the Borough of Liskeard Borough, Liskeard Parish, Menheniot, Merval, Pelynt, St Clear, St Dominick, St Ive, St Keyne, St Martin, St Neot, St Pinnock, St Veep, South Hill, Talland and West Looe. The Liskeard Union workhouse, to the plans of George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt (they designed for other workhouses in Cornwall, was built at Liskeard on the west side of Station Road between 1837 and 1839. The buildings of the workhouse later became the Llamellion Hospital.

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