A mass grave for 119 sailors who drowned more than 200 years ago could be exhumed to avoid their remains being exposed by coastal erosion.<\/p>\n
HMS Invincible sank off the Norfolk coast in 1801 on its way to join Horatio Nelson\u2019s fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen<\/a>. The recovered bodies of those who drowned were buried at St Mary\u2019s church in Happisburgh, the nearest village to the shipwreck.<\/p>\n Their remains are again threatened by the sea, as the graveyard is expected to be destroyed by coastal erosion<\/a> in the coming decades.<\/p>\n North Norfolk<\/a> district council (NNDC) has agreed to conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of the graveyard later this summer to pinpoint the exact location of the mass grave for a possible exhumation.<\/p>\n The GPR survey follows a request from The 1805 Club<\/a>, a charity that preserves naval heritage from the era. It is seeking permission to exhume the remains of the sailors, and then plans to rebury them at sea with the help of the Royal Navy.<\/p>\n HMS Invincible in battle in 1794, in a painting by Nicholas Pocock. Photograph: Nicholas Pocock\/National Maritime Museum, Greenwich London<\/p>\n The identities of most of those who drowned are unknown, but they include the ship\u2019s captain, John Rennie. According to a contemporary newspaper report,<\/a> he almost made it to a rescue boat, but then \u201cexhausted with fatigue he calmly resigned himself to his fate. Lifting up his hands, as if to implore the blessing of heaven \u2026 he went directly down without another struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n The disaster was blamed on the ship\u2019s pilot who ignored warnings about the presence of shallow sand ridges off the Norfolk coast. Out of a crew of 590 men only 190 survived. Many of those drowned were washed up on the beach at Happisburgh and taken in cart loads to the church for burial<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mass grave was unmarked until 1998 when a stone was placed above it that includes the biblical inscription: \u201cAnd the sea gave up the dead that were in it.\u201d<\/p>\n The threat of coastal erosion to the Happisburgh mass grave was highlighted in a report to NNDC<\/a>. It warned that without intervention, human bones could be exposed by the sea as occurred at the cliff side graveyard at St Mary\u2019s in Whitby<\/a>, North Yorkshire, when coastal erosion caused a landslide.<\/p>\n Human bones could be exposed by the sea as occurred at the cliff side graveyard at St Mary\u2019s in Whitby when coastal erosion caused a landslide. Photograph: daverhead\/Getty\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n Following publication of the report, John Rodgaard chair of the 1805 club, wrote to NNDC to suggest the grave should be exhumed. He said: \u201cAfter reviewing the options presented, we reached a consensus that the remains should be disinterred, but not reburied at an inland location. Instead, we feel the remains should be committed to the North Sea, and as near as possible to the wreck of HMS Invincible.\u201d<\/p>\n