Families' Distress Regarding Coastal Degradation Threatening Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites

Families whose relatives buried in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat say that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections indicate at least part of one churchyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

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

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely disrespectful.”

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

A Soldier's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and anxious.

Some are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” 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 accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each community.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of sacred ground.