🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“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 sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.