🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that indecision over how to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Graveyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could see human remains,” 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 mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

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

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

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.