Relatives' Anguish Over Coastal Erosion Threatening Coastal Norfolk Graves

Loved ones whose relatives buried in graves at risk from shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have 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 looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’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 place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the right answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.