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Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample 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. It requires good local conversations to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.