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Families of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“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. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

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

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

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want additional coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “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.”

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

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

The prospect of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in life after death, providing a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.