🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision on how best to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue details a series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't 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 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.

Troubled by the Past

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

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell 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 lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

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

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to find the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.