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Loved ones of people laid to rest in graves at risk from shoreline retreat argue that indecision over how to tackle the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the eternal homes of their loved ones.

An Impending Danger to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have identified three church graveyards in the communities 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 details a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. My parents wanted this to serve as their final resting place, but it isn’t going to be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could fall into the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen much sooner. “In my view it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Troubled by the Past

A local business owner recalled a school trip to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely vanished into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see human remains,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will collect remains as souvenirs and go plundering graves looking for treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while working overseas. His mother expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s grave might one day be relocated.

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

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, 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 tackle the challenge has resulted in bereaved families feeling exasperated and worried.

Some want additional sea defences to slow the unavoidable loss and to allow burials to continue for now. Others contend the time for moving graves is approaching.

“It is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is taken forward. And everybody is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager said the graveyards were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. We are here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the options. “We are talking decades before it starts to be lost.”

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

The possibility of the loss of the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “immense sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in life after death, offering a theological viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.