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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

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

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.