Winterton-on-Sea is a village and civil parish on the North Sea coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Great Yarmouth and east of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and at the 2001 census had a population of 1,359 in 589 households. Winterton-on-Sea borders the villages of Hemsby, Horsey and Somerton. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Great Yarmouth. Between the village and the North Sea are Winterton Dunes which include a National Nature Reserve and are inhabited by several notable species such as the natterjack toad. Winterton and neighbouring beach, Horsey, are major wildlife sites, even over the winter. During the months of November to January, a colony of Atlantic Grey Seals heads on to the beach to give birth to seal pups. This has been described as "one of Britain’s greatest wildlife spectacles" and attracts tourists from all over the country. Winterton as a resort The village has been described as "a very pleasant place to spend a holiday" and "one of the great natural beauty-spots of Norfolk". The coast near the village has a sandy beach. The village has a fish and chip shop, a lodge/small hotel called The Fisher Man's Return, a pub and a post office. It has received awards on several occasions in the Anglia in Bloom competition. History The parish was created in 967CE, and a church was established here during the Anglo-Saxon period. The current church, Holy Trinity and All Saints, mostly dates back to the 16th century and its tower is tall. The lean-to chapel north of the chancel is from the 13th century and could have been an anchorite's cell but is more likely to have been an early example of a vestry or sacristy. The porch dates from about 1459. Some historians believe that the village was the seasonal "tun", meaning settlement, of farmers from East Somerton who were fishermen during the winter. By Norman times it had become a separate village and is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wintretona or Wintretuna. The Fisherman's Return, a brick and flint public house, dates from the end of the 17th century. A glossy black erratic boulder "the size of a large pig" is located in The Lane close to the junction with Black Street. The stone was moved in 1931, this led to riots as