🔗 Share this article

Loved ones of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A recent report on the situation details a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos 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 disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “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 attained.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the right answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.