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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Officials say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

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

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. 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 happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.