Norfolk Mass Grave of 119 Sailors Faces Erasure as Coastline Crumbles

St Mary's churchyard in Happisburgh, Norfolk, holds 119 sailors from HMS Invincible, wrecked on a sandbank in March 1801 with 400 lives lost. The Norfolk coast erodes at over one metre per year. Heritage law designed for stable landscapes struggles to protect burial sites faster than the sea claims them. A current gravestone survey documents the site before it disappears into the North Sea.