🔗 Share this article

Families of people laid to rest in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into 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 childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His mother expressed she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose 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 Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” 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 responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of hallowed earth.