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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

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

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

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. 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 would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions 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 want additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated 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. It requires productive community discussions to discover the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.