🔗 Share this article

Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion say that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

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

A recent report on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating 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. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard 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 happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Along the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important 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 watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to handle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some want more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “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 responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.