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Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion state that a lack of decision over how to tackle the issue is creating unnecessary distress concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being consumed by the sea in the coming decades.

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and reburying them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea 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 happened 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 almost entirely disappeared into the sea, including its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get carried away to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril

Further up the coast lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to think this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “For us it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “My preference 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 Clarity

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for moving graves is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were owned and managed of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to decide the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with residents.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking many years before it starts to be lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to find the right answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of sacred ground.