🔗 Share this article

Families of people buried in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed 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. Officials say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Projections suggest at least part 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 look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to handle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the path to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.