The men were buried in Happisburgh churchyard when HMS Invincible sank while sailing to join Admiral Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. 

Of the 590 crew on board, just 190 survived, and the bodies that were recovered were carried to St Mary the Virgin church as it was the nearest to the wreck.

HMS Invincible, 74-gun ship of the line (Image: Supplied)

The mass grave of the lost sailors from HMS Invincible (Image: Richard Cogman)

However the erosion now threatening the churchyard has led to calls for the men to be dug up and buried in the sea, as close as possible to where they drowned.

North Norfolk 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.

The survey follows a request from The 1805 Club, an international charity dedicated to preserving the heritage of Georgian-era sailors, which has offered to use its Royal Navy connections to help carry out the exhumation.

The church is at threat of being lost to the sea (Image: Newsquest)

Stephen Howarth, a senior advisor for the club, said: "In a few decades, that graveyard is going to be eaten away.

“The 1801 disaster was such a huge tragedy, such a great loss of life, especially when the fleet was en route to Denmark.

"They were buried on land as a matter of haste and urgency, and at the time they did not pay........

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