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Families whose relatives laid to rest in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

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

A newly published study on the situation details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to serve as 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 waves 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 happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

He added there was 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 be done yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.