🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that indecision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

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

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened 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 almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

The lack of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

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

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.