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Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves at risk from shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't 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 much sooner. “I think 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

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

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

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

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to think this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the right answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.