🔗 Share this article

Families of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is approaching.

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

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.