🔗 Share this article

Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

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

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They intended this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

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

Several families want more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.