Relatives' Distress Over Coastal Degradation Threatening Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites

Loved ones of people buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a range of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

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

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. People will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing 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 Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His parent said she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

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

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

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

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

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

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.