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Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Officials say it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

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

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for more sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care 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 journey with communities.”

He added there was time to weigh all the options. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.