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Families whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat argue that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue details a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

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

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted 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 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 grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must 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 problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.