Families' Heartache Regarding Shoreline Degradation Threatening Norfolk Graves

Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the issue details a range of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of valuables. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”

In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that process with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”

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

The prospect of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.