🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “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 attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Some want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.