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Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision over how to address the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want additional sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right answers for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.