🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the issue details a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose 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.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.