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Families of people buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

A Looming Danger to Historic Churchyards

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

A newly published study on the issue sets out a series of possible actions, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in safer sites. Officials maintain it is for the community 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 final resting place, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one churchyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got under 20 years, if you consider what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely vanished into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get washed out to sea. They won’t. Individuals will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the same thing that befell at Eccles will occur at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Along the coast is situated the burial plot of a ex-soldier who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly trouble me to consider this won’t be his lasting home,” she said. “For us it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution must be made when a critical moment has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the problem has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.

Several families want more sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit burials to continue for now. Others argue the time for relocation is drawing near.

“It is very emotional,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A coastal manager said the burial sites were under the care of the church authorities. “In the end it is down to them to choose the path to take. We are here to assist them through that process with residents.”

He added there was time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. We need productive community discussions to find the appropriate solutions for each village.”

The prospect of the loss of the historic sites was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also referenced a belief in life after death, offering a theological perspective on the temporal loss of hallowed earth.