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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled 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.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

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

A coastal manager said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to find the right solutions for each village.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites 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 loss of hallowed earth.