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Loved ones of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate 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 much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving abroad. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the right answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.