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Loved ones of people buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

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

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by 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 happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.