Families whose relatives laid to rest in graves vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision over how to address the issue is creating unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their loved ones.
Local authorities have singled out three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Mundesley, and Trimingham as being in danger of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.
A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Officials maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.
“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”
Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents 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,” one said.
One resident remembered a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.
“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. That is not the case. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”
“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”
Further up the shoreline lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be relocated.
“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his permanent resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”
In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an early decision must be made when a tipping point has been attained.”
The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.
Several families want more sea defences to slow the inevitable erosion and to permit funerals to proceed for now. Others contend the time for relocation is approaching.
“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”
A coastal manager confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is up to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that journey with communities.”
It was also stated there was time to consider all the options. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”
“There is no common view on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”
The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in resurrection, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.
Elena Hartwell is a multidisciplinary artist and educator passionate about fostering creative communities in London.