Families' Anguish Over Shoreline Erosion Endangering Norfolk Graves
Loved ones of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the eternal homes of their loved ones.
A Looming Threat to Ancient Churchyards
The council have identified three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being swallowed by the ocean in the coming decades.
A recent report on the situation details a range of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure sites. Authorities maintain it is for local people to determine how to move forward.
“Right now we’re in limbo. It causes me distress. They wanted this to be their final resting place, but it won't be because of the sea.”
Projections indicate at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.
Troubled by the Past
One resident recalled a school trip to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.
“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing 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 bones on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”
A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril
Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's grave might one day be moved.
“It truly disturb me to think this may not remain his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”
She believes, new burials should stop but says it is too soon to disturb 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 Certainty
An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has resulted in grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.
Some are calling for additional coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to permit burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for relocation is drawing near.
“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And all parties is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”
A local official said the graveyards were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”
It was also stated there was time to weigh all the options. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”
“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to find the right solutions for each community.”
The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.
