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Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

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

Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including 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 the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb 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 too soon to exhume existing graves. “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 reached.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

The lack of consensus over when and how to handle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is approaching.

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

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

He added there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.