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Families of people buried in graves at risk from shoreline retreat state that indecision over how to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the situation details a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Officials say it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it won't 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 far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.