Families' Anguish Over Coastal Degradation Threatening Norfolk Burial Sites

Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Danger to Ancient Graveyards

The council have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed 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 more secure locations. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

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

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

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families want additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need productive local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.