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Families of people laid to rest in graves at risk from shoreline retreat argue that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate 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 Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

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 tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites 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 assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider 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 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 church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of hallowed earth.