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Loved ones of people buried in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say 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 wanted this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

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

“You could 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 souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to consider this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the moment for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the choices. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.