🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the situation details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents intended this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “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 Clarity

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, 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 confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of hallowed earth.