Relatives' Anguish Over Coastal Erosion Threatening Coastal Norfolk Graves

Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely 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 carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

“It does disturb me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” 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 coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.