🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision over how to address the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the issue details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.