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Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat say that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities 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 series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view 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 disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “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 accountable.”

A local official said the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.