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Families whose relatives buried in graves at risk from shoreline retreat say that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea 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 consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

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

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.