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Families whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council 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 issue sets out a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands 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 choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive community discussions to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.