🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

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 closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.