🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

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 next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. 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 last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to find the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.