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Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

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

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s 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 Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

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

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.