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Loved ones whose relatives buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

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

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while working abroad. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is approaching.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

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

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.