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Loved ones of people buried in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Ancient 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 sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while working abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report 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 burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.