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Families of people laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation 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 implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

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

He added there was time to consider all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. It requires productive community discussions to find the right answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.