Loved ones whose relatives buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.
The council have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.
A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to decide how to move forward.
“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”
Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.
One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.
“You could see people’s bones,” 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 souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”
“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”
Along the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working abroad. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be relocated.
“It does disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”
In her view, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”
An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.
Several families want additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Others contend the moment for moving graves is approaching.
“It is very emotive,” 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 responsible.”
A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with communities.”
It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”
“There is no common view on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each community.”
The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.
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