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Loved ones whose relatives buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council 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 coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

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

Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an important 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 timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“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 washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.