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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Graveyards

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

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They 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 much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is approaching.

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

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.