🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the choices. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.