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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley 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 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 a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold 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 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 bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent expressed she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

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

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.