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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered 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 carried away to sea. That is not the case. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.