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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was time to consider all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to discover the right answers for each community.”

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