Plans gathered to save graves from coastal erosion in Happisburgh
"We need to get ready for the future. It is not something we would wish to be surprised by."
The authorities have been working with a government-backed Coastwise scheme, which aims to prepare coastal communities threatened by erosion.It has commissioned a report to investigate the relocation of bodies from cemeteries and graveyards at risk of being lost to the sea.As the threat was imminent in Happisburgh it has been treated as a test case, to establish how such a large-scale relocation of remains might be possible.Blathwayt added: "This is a national worry and is going to become a problem in the future."
Exposed to erosion
While Happisburgh might be seen as a pilot project, it would not be the first church – or graveyard – to be lost to the sea.When churches at nearby Eccles and at Dunwich, Suffolk, fell victim to shifting coastlines, graves were left to be exposed by the erosion."We cannot allow that to happen," added Blathwayt.The fate of the 15th Century church and graveyard has been raised during meetings with villagers and the Diocese of Norwich, which has responsibility for the site.As part of these talks, parishioners have considered decommissioning the graveyard so no more burials could take place there.A Diocese of Norwich spokeswoman said: "This is not a new problem in the Diocese of Norwich. At least nine churches and therefore graveyards were lost to coastal erosion during the Middle Ages."At Dunwich in Suffolk, which was in the Diocese of Norwich in the Middle Ages, an entire town with eight churches was washed away by coastal erosion."
The church grounds is Happisburgh include the graves of 119 sailors who died on HMS Invincible in March 1801, when the ship ran into difficulties after leaving Great Yarmouth to fight in the Battle of Copenhagen.As it made its way along the coast, it got stuck on the Hammond's Knoll near Haisborough Sands.Around 200 sailors escaped the wreck but more than 400 drowned.A memorial was unveiled in 1998 after some of the sailors' remains were discovered during work to dig a trench a decade prior.
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