🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council 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 next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by 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 look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is 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’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be 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 disturb existing graves. “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 Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the time for relocation 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 taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.