🔗 Share this article

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

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

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

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

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner remembered a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the options. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.