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Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Officials say it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

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

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s final plot 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 site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.