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Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue 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 proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried 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 ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to consider this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.