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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision on how best to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have 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 grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands 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 path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.