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Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure locations. Officials say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, 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 the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was ample time to consider 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 right answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of sacred ground.