🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 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 school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

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

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Some want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good local conversations to discover the right answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.