🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat say that indecision on how best to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon 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 Clarity

The lack of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.