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Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

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

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

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have 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. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.