🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion say that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

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

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view 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

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely 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 romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed 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 home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is approaching.

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

A local official confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.