Families' Heartache Over Coastal Degradation Endangering Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites

Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that indecision on how best to address the problem is creating avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. That is not the case. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Soldier's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

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

Searching for Answers and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites 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 residents.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to find the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of hallowed earth.