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Loved ones of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure sites. Authorities say it is for local people to decide how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

One resident remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be bones on the shore. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It does disturb me to think this won’t be his permanent resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to exhume existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Seeking Answers and Certainty

An absence of consensus over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and worried.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.