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Families of people buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion say that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities 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 coming decades.

A recent report on the issue details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “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 Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent 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 disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others contend the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

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

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

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

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.