🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision over how to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain 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 final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by 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 consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “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 Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.