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Families of people buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that a lack of decision over how to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting resting place,” 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 existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

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

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the right solutions for each community.”

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 resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.