Families' Anguish Regarding Coastal Degradation Threatening Norfolk Graves
Families of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to address the problem is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their loved ones.
A Looming Threat to Historic Graveyards
The council have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the next few generations.
A newly published study on the issue details a series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure sites. Officials maintain it is for the community to determine how to proceed.
“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”
Projections 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 under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.
Troubled by the Past
One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.
“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals 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 at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”
A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy
Further up the shoreline is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while working abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.
“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”
In her view, new burials should stop but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”
Searching for Solutions and Certainty
An absence of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.
Several families want additional sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Different voices argue the moment for relocation is approaching.
“It is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”
A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”
It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”
“There is no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good community discussions to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”
The possibility of the loss of the historic sites was described as one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the physical disappearance of sacred ground.