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Loved ones of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that indecision on how best to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the villages of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being engulfed by the ocean in the next few generations.

A recent report on the situation sets out a range of possible actions, from doing nothing to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Projections suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by 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 look at 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 human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as mementos and go grave robbing looking for treasures. That is completely disrespectful.”

“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 appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving abroad. His parent said she could not sleep after learning her child's grave might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to think this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is premature to disturb current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a tipping point has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

The lack of consensus over when and how to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families want more coastal protections to delay the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to proceed for now. Others argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “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 coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “In the end it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that process with residents.”

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

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need good local conversations to discover the right answers for each village.”

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was described as one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.