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Loved ones of people laid to rest in resting places vulnerable to coastal erosion say that indecision over how to address the issue is creating avoidable anguish concerning the final resting places of their departed family.

An Impending Danger to Historic Graveyards

Local authorities have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being at risk of being engulfed by the sea in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the issue sets out a range of options, from taking no action to disinterring bodies and relocating them in safer sites. Authorities say it is for local people to determine how to move forward.

“At the moment we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They wanted this to serve as their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates indicate at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the waves in the next 80 years, but some locals worry it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you look at what’s occurred in the last 30 years,” one said.

Haunted by the Past

A local business owner remembered a childhood visit to the nearby village of Eccles, which has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, including its church and graveyard.

“It was possible to see people’s bones,” she said. “Some have this romantic idea that the deceased will just get washed out to the ocean. That is not the case. Individuals will collect remains as souvenirs and go grave robbing in search of treasures. That is completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the identical fate that happened at Eccles will occur here and there’ll be skeletons on the shore. I would feel appalled by that.”

A Paratrooper's Grave in Peril

Along the coast lies the grave of a former paratrooper who died while serving overseas. His parent expressed she could not sleep after discovering her son’s final plot might one day be moved.

“It truly disturb me to consider this may not remain his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an important place to go.”

She believes, new interments should stop but says it is too soon to disturb current plots. “What I would choose for now is to do nothing and watch carefully, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a tipping point has been attained.”

Searching for Answers and Certainty

The lack of consensus over the timing and method to tackle the problem has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some are calling for more coastal protections to slow the inevitable erosion and to allow burials to proceed for now. Different voices argue the time for moving graves is approaching.

“The situation is very emotive,” said one relative. “The official study was really good, but now there’s confusion about how it is taken forward. And everybody is avoiding responsibility over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the burial sites were owned and managed of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is down to them to decide the direction to take. Our role is here to assist them through that journey with communities.”

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

“There is no unified opinion on what should be done yet. It requires productive local conversations to find the appropriate answers for each village.”

The possibility of losing the historic sites was labeled one of “immense sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also spoke of a doctrine in resurrection, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of sacred ground.