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Loved ones of people buried in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear 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,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

One resident recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families are calling for additional sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Different voices contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were under the care of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

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

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.