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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

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

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’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.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some want more coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.