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Loved ones of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into 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 look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

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

He added there was ample time to weigh all the options. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.