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Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea 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 Past

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing in search of 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 appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to handle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves 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 accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.