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Families of people buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

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

Estimates 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 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 remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, 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 carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working abroad. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to consider this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “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 said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the options. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.