Beeston Regis is a village and civil parish in the North Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It is about a mile (2 km) east of Sheringham, Norfolk and near the coast. The village is 2 miles (3 km) west of Cromer and 16 miles (26 km) north of the city of Norwich. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 1,062. There is a frequent bus service on the coast road A149 and a rail service from the nearby stations of Sheringham to the west and West Runton to the east, where the Bittern Line runs a frequent service between Norwich, Cromer and Sheringham. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The North Sea is the northern boundary of the parish, the parish of Runton forms the western boundary, the wooded Beeston Regis Heath forms the southern boundary with the parish of Aylmerton and the parish of Sheringham lies to the west. History There are few traces of early antiquity in Beeston Regis. However, evidence of Roman habitation was found on Beeston Regis Heath in 1859 when a complete set of quern-stones were found dating from Roman times. Quern-stones were used to grind materials, the most important of which was usually grain to make flour for bread. On Beeston Regis Heath there are circular pits called 'Hills and Holes' (from the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map of the area). They are thought to date from prehistoric times. During the Saxon-Norman to Medieval periods these pits were dug to obtain iron ore, which was then smelted in a furnace to produce iron. Domesday Book Beeston Regis is mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086, where it is called Besetune and Besetuna/tune. The main landholders of the parish were William d'Ecouis and Hugh de Montfort. The main tenant was Ingulf, The survey also lists ½ a mill. In the Domesday survey fractions were used to indicate that the entry, in this case a mill, was on an estate that lay within more than one parish. Regis Beeston Regis was once known as Beeston-next-the-Sea, but from 1399 when Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Lancaster, became King Henry IV, the name became Beeston Regis. Regis means "of the king", and the living and manor of Beeston became part of the Crown and the Lancaster Inheritance. St Mary's Priory Beeston Regis has the remains of an Augustinian priory known as Beeston Regis Priory