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Families whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to address the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

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

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

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

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, 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 timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

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

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.