Families' Heartache Over Shoreline Degradation Endangering Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites
Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.
A Looming Threat to Historic Graveyards
Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.
A recent report on the issue details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and reburying them in more secure sites. Officials say it is for local people to decide 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.”
Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents worry 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,” a farmer stated.
Troubled by the Past
One resident remembered a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.
“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go plundering graves in search of valuables. It’s completely undignified.”
“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I would feel appalled by that.”
A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy
Along the coast lies the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be moved.
“It does trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”
She believes, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “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 reached.”
Searching for Answers and Certainty
An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.
Several families are calling for more sea defences to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is drawing near.
“The situation is very emotional,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”
A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”
He added there was time to weigh all the options. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”
“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”
The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sorrow for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in resurrection, offering a theological perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.