Relatives' Heartache Over Coastal Erosion Endangering Norfolk Burial Sites
Families of people buried in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.
An Impending Threat to Ancient Churchyards
The council have singled out three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the next few generations.
A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for local people to decide how to proceed.
“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”
Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.
Haunted by the Past
A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.
“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”
“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”
A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril
Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she lost sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.
“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”
She believes, new burials should stop but says it is premature to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”
Searching for Solutions and Clarity
The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.
Some are calling for more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is approaching.
“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”
A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “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.”
He added there was ample time to consider all the choices. “This concerns many years before it starts to be lost.”
“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires good local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each community.”
The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.
