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Families of people buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a range of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

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

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while serving overseas. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to consider this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to handle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the physical loss of sacred ground.