🔗 Share this article

Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Estimates indicate 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. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.