🔗 Share this article

Families of people buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

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

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

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to consider this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

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

Some want more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.