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Families of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” 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 burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to discover the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.