🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a range of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with 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 washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was 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 happen yet. It requires productive community discussions to find the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.