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Families whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

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

A recent report on the situation sets out a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“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 appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

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

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.