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Loved ones of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation details a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” 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 accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

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