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Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision on how best to address the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A recent report on the situation details a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“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.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “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.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

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

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “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 accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the options. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical loss of hallowed earth.