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Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in graves at risk from shoreline retreat say that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard 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 consider what’s occurred 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 people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

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

A local official said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”

He added there was time to consider all the options. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.