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Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the situation details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

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

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear 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,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It 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 responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.