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Families of people buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.