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Families of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

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

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

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

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over when and how to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the options. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.