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Families of people laid to rest in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision over how to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents intended this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Peril

Along the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.

“It truly trouble me to think this won’t be his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to do nothing and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study 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 graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.