🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat say that indecision over how to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

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

Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely 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 people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

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

A Soldier's Grave in Peril

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“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.”

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

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

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, 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 graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.