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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Graveyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed 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 more secure sites. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

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

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard 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.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It 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 washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.