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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

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

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

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

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

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

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

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need good 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 local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.