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Loved ones of people buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision on how best to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain 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 be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “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

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.