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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

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

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate 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 Peril

Along the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

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

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.