Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion say that indecision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.
The council have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.
A recent report on the issue details a range of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.
“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”
Estimates suggest at least part of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.
One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, including its church and graveyard.
“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”
“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”
Further up the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.
“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”
In her view, new interments should cease but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”
The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.
Some want more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Others contend the time for relocation is drawing near.
“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”
A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”
It was also stated there was time to weigh all the options. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”
“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive 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 church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.
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