🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering 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. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to find the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.