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Families of people buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to be 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 sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to 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. People will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

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

The possibility of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.