🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that indecision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean 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 maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

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

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals 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,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

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

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the options. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.