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Families of people laid to rest in resting places at risk from coastal erosion say that a lack of decision on how best to tackle the problem is causing them unnecessary distress about the eternal homes of their departed family.

An Impending Threat to Historic Churchyards

Local authorities have singled out three church graveyards in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being consumed by the sea in the next few generations.

A newly published study on the situation details a series of possible actions, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in more secure locations. Officials say it is for the community to decide how to proceed.

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

Estimates indicate at least a portion of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “In my view it’s got under 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 childhood visit to the neighbouring settlement of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, along with its place of worship and burial ground.

“You could see people’s bones,” 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 valuables. It’s completely undignified.”

“I fear that the identical fate that befell at Eccles will happen here and there’ll be bones on the beach. I’d be disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Further up the shoreline is situated the grave of a former paratrooper who died while working abroad. His mother said she lost sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

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

In her view, new interments should stop but says it is premature to disturb existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and watch carefully, but an timely resolution 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 left bereaved families feeling frustrated and worried.

Some are calling for additional sea defences to delay the unavoidable loss and to permit 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 really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And all parties is washing their hands over who is accountable.”

A coastal manager confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the church authorities. “Ultimately it is down to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that process with communities.”

He added there was ample time to weigh all the choices. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no common view on what should be done yet. We need good local conversations to discover the appropriate answers for each community.”

The prospect of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the area,” but church representatives also referenced a belief in life after death, providing a spiritual viewpoint on the temporal loss of sacred ground.