🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including 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 carried away to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of hallowed earth.