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Loved ones whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to address the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a range of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and reburying them in safer locations. Officials say it is for local people to decide how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. My parents intended this to serve as their last home, but it isn’t going to be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at 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 largely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get carried away to the ocean. That is not the case. People will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the burial plot of a former paratrooper killed while serving overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be relocated.

“It does trouble me to consider this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important site to visit.”

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

An absence of agreement over when and how to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling frustrated and anxious.

Several families are calling for more coastal protections to delay the inevitable erosion and to allow funerals to continue for now. Different voices contend the time for relocation is drawing near.

“The situation is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“There is no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the right solutions for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a belief in resurrection, offering a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.