As David peers over the stone wall overlooking the bay at the back of the cemetery, to see clear blue skies above a calm sea, he admits it's hard to imagine the battering the wall will take the next time the weather changes.

But it's inevitable that the storms will come again, and the waves will crash right the way up to the clifftop where the church has stood for over 12 centuries and leave many gravestones teetering on the brink of plummeting into the water, to be lost forever.

"Every year more stones are washed out of the wall and little by little, the graveyard is sinking," says David.

"It's already lost about six feet."

He points out two trees on the edge of the cliff. Half the roots have been ripped out from the pummelling of inclement weather.

"If those trees went altogether they would take earth with them, and that would expose the edge of the graveyard," he says.

"That could happen in the next storm. If the whole cliff went that would take the graves with it."

There is also a huge crack in one of the stone buttresses that support the wall and stones are crumbling into the sea.

The responsibility for repairing the site lies with the people of Heysham, and not with Lancaster City Council.

So a campaign has been launched to raise the money needed to carry out extensive restorations.

This appeal is a partnership between the church, the Heritage Trust for the North West charity, which has rescued and restored many buildings of architectural interest at risk in Lancashire, and the Heysham Heritage Association.

Target
The association, which is run by dedicated volunteers who love Heysham, aims to promote and help conserve the heritage of the village and its environs – and particularly its coastal landscape and its heritage sites, which include St Peter's Church.

If the partnership can raise the target of £200,000, the money will be shared between the church and the Heysham Heritage Centre in the village.

The centre, which was opened in 2000 and is run by the Heysham Heritage Association, is a mini-museum which celebrates the history and heritage of the village.

It is made up of a cottage and two shops, converted in the 20th century from a rare surviving 17th century longhouse on Main Street.

In 1999 the Heritage Trust for the North West bought the shops and converted them into the centre. Then last year the trust also acquired the next-door cottage to increase the space in the centre, using a loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund.

Now the trust hopes to raise £90,000 through the appeal to pay off the loan. The rest of the money will go to the church to pay for work on repairing and reinforcing the crumbling sea defences that form a vulnerable barrier from the elements to the church's graveyard.

There are many marine activities that could be contributing to the slow shift in Heysham's coastal landscape: such as fishing, dredging for building materials, offshore gas and oil platforms, windfarms, pleasure sailing, pipe laying and cabling, cockling, nature watching, watersports, dumping at sea and shipping.

They all put pressure on the coastal environment of Morecambe Bay so it's impossible to be sure what exactly is contributing to the graveyard's demise. "It could be the River Kent sinking at Heysham, it could be the coastal defences at Morecambe, or it could be global warming, it depends who you speak to," says David.

Lancaster City Council is adamant that its recent coastal defence work has nothing to do with the church's plight.

Cliff
Ged McAllister, senior coastal engineer for Lancaster City Council, said: "The reason the cliff around the graveyard at St Peter's is eroding is not connected in any way with the sea defence works we have undertaken in Morecambe.

"It is simply a natural process of erosion caused by the sea.
"We have provided as much help to the church authorities as we can by providing technical advice and also explaining what options are available to solve the problem.

"Unfortunately we are unable to go much further as the church and graveyard are private land and the responsibility of the church authorities."

So the people of Heysham will have to fend for themselves when it comes to finding the money.

"It would actually cost £500,000 to restore it properly, but even if I get £20,000 it means we can look at starting some of the work," said Rev Tickner.

"The crack needs sealing, stones need replacing and buttresses reinforcing."

A series of fund-raising talks and coffee mornings are planned for the church to get the campaign rolling.

But finding the money could be an arduous process and in the meantime, the final resting places of many loved ones come ever closer to being washed out to sea.

l IF you would like to help with the Save Heysham's Heritage campaign, please contact the Rev David Tickner at St Peter's Church, John Holding, chairman of the Heysham Heritage Association at 342 Heysham Road, or Mr E Miller, director of the Heritage Trust for the North West, on 01282 661704.