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Families of people buried in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Officials say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They wanted this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea 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 occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“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 confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be 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 the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.