🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections 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. “In my view 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

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is approaching.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up 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 choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

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

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological viewpoint on the physical loss of sacred ground.