🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

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

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, 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 critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was time to consider all the options. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.