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Families whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain 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.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “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 reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It 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 responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.