🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in graves at risk from shoreline retreat state that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

Local authorities have identified 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 recent report on the issue details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into 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 look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

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

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”

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

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

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.