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Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision over how to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard 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 less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

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

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

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others contend the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.