🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

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

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished 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 idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to think this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

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

Several families want more coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.