THE graveyard of a Grade I listed church at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, on the Northumberland coast, is in danger of falling into the sea from erosion if action is not taken to secure the coastal defences, its Vicar, the Revd Anthony O’Grady, learned last week.
St Bartholomew’s, and the graveyard, are on Church Point, directly fronting the sea. Violent storms in the 1950s lowered sand levels here by as much as 15 metres, and older people in the community could remember when they could walk quite a distance from church to sea, Fr O’Grady told the BBC last week.
The state of the town’s sea defences was debated in the House of Commons as long ago as 20 years, at the instigation of Denis Murphy, Labour MP for Wansbeck. It revealed the first reports of erosion in the bay to have been made at the turn of the last century, when it was attributed to mining subsidence and increased wave movement.
A sea-wall defence system was completed between 1989 and 1992, but soon proved to be inadequate. DEFRA planning consent for a new, substantial system was finally granted in 2004, and work should have started in 2006, but it moved down DEFRA’s priority list and was withdrawn. Mr Murphy warned at the time, “Every business will be put at risk if sea defences are not constructed.”
Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, revisited the subject on 25 July this year, telling the House of Commons: “St Bartholomew’s church in Newbiggin- by-the-Sea, in my constituency, is a Grade I listed building. It is a beautiful church but it is in serious danger of sliding into the North Sea because of coastal erosion.
“Sadly, the last government allowed funding for sea defences only to protect residential properties. Can we have a debate in government time to discuss how to change that rule before this lovely church and some of its former residents slide into the North Sea?”
He was assured by the Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell: “I am sorry to hear about that historic church in my hon. friend’s constituency. He is right that coastal erosion is one of the key challenges that his community and many others face, and it is one of the issues that my right hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is prioritising in his work on the flood resilience task force and on coastal community resilience; so I will ensure that [his] comments have been heard and that he gets a full reply.”
Northumberland County Council has secured funding for a detailed study of the sea defences. Fr O’Grady was on annual leave, and unavailable for comment on Tuesday, but he told the BBC last week, “We do need action soon to protect the graveyard and the church for future generations.
“We first became aware of a problem at the end of 2023, when I was approached by the Environment Agency and Northumberland County Council to make us aware the current sea defence wall in front of the church needs replacing. You can see elements of decay already at the base of it: it’s beginning to crumble.”
St Bartholomew’s describes its location as “a welcoming focal point in this town for hundreds of years . . . an integral part of the past, the present, and the future life of this place and all that it might become”.