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Loved ones of people buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning 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 at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 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 remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “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 responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

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

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