Relatives' Heartache Over Shoreline Degradation Endangering Coastal Norfolk Burial Sites
Families whose relatives buried in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion state that indecision over how to tackle the problem is creating unnecessary distress about the final resting places of their departed family.
An Impending Danger to Ancient Graveyards
The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.
A newly published study on the situation details a series of options, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer locations. Officials say 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 serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”
Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could fall into the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals 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,” a farmer stated.
Troubled by the Past
One resident recalled a school trip to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the water, including its place of worship and burial ground.
“You could see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. Individuals will collect remains as mementos and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”
“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I’d be appalled by that.”
A Soldier's Resting Place in Peril
Further up the shoreline lies the burial plot of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent expressed she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be relocated.
“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “For us it’s an important site to visit.”
In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “What I would choose for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been reached.”
Searching for Solutions and Certainty
An absence of consensus over when and how to tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and anxious.
Some want more sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others argue the time for moving graves is approaching.
“The situation is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The council’s report was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”
A coastal manager said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the path to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”
It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “This concerns decades before it begins getting lost.”
“Currently, there exists no common view on what should happen yet. It requires good local conversations to find the right answers for each community.”
The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.