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Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from shoreline retreat say that indecision on how best to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

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

Troubled by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families want more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.