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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation details a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to 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 locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, 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 washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper killed while working abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.