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Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves vulnerable to shoreline retreat state that a lack of decision on how best to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

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

A recent report on the issue sets out a range of options, from taking no action to exhuming remains and relocating them in more secure sites. Officials say it is for the community to determine how to proceed.

“Right now we’re in a state of uncertainty. It causes me distress. They intended this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the encroaching sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard 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 look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, along with its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this romantic idea that people’s remains will just get carried away to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. It’s completely disrespectful.”

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

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working overseas. His parent said she lost sleep after learning her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to consider this may not remain his lasting resting place,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant site to visit.”

She believes, new interments should cease but says it is too soon to exhume current plots. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an early decision needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Solutions and Certainty

The lack of agreement over the timing and method to handle the problem has resulted in grieving relatives feeling frustrated and worried.

Several families are calling for additional coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow funerals to proceed for now. Others argue the time for relocation is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was thorough, but now there’s confusion about how it is implemented. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is accountable.”

A local official said the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. We are here to help support them through that journey with communities.”

It was also stated there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “This concerns many years before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should happen yet. It requires good community discussions to discover the right solutions for each village.”

The prospect of losing the historic sites was described as one of “immense sorrow for the local community,” but faith leaders also spoke of a doctrine in life after death, providing a spiritual perspective on the physical loss of hallowed earth.