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Families of people laid to rest in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“Right now 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 sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves 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 consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

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

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.