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Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea 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.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is approaching.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.