Relatives' Heartache Regarding Shoreline Erosion Endangering Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites
Families whose relatives laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their departed family.
An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards
Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being swallowed by the sea in the next few generations.
A recent report on the situation details a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to proceed.
“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”
Estimates suggest at least a portion of one churchyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals fear it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.
Troubled by the Ghosts of Eccles
A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the sea, along with its place of worship and burial ground.
“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for valuables. That is completely undignified.”
“I’m worried that the same thing that happened at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”
A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril
Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier killed while working abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after learning her son’s grave might one day be moved.
“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important place to go.”
She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”
Searching for Answers and Clarity
An absence of consensus over when and how to handle the problem has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.
Some want more coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the moment for relocation is approaching.
“It 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 everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”
A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to decide the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”
He added there was ample time to consider all the options. “We are talking many years before it begins getting lost.”
“There is no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to find the appropriate answers for each village.”
The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.
