Families' Distress Over Coastal Erosion Endangering Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites

Loved ones whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending 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 consumed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

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

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

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

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

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

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

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the options. “This concerns decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to discover the right answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.