🔗 Share this article

Families whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat argue that indecision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view 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

One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, along with 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 sea. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

He added there was ample time to consider all the options. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to find the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.