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Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Graveyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue details a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “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

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some want more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

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 happen yet. We need good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.