page_title: Beeston Regis
section_title: All Saints Church and other features
hierarchical_section_title: Beeston Regis / All Saints Church and other features
caption_attribution_description: English: An original Digital Photograph of James Renolds Headstone in Beeston Regis Church
context_page_description: Beeston Regis is a village and civil parish in the North Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It is about a mile east of Sheringham, Norfolk and near the coast. The village is 2 miles west of Cromer and 16 miles 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.
context_section_description: Other features of the village are the cliff-top Parish Church of All Saints (which is a Grade I listed Church and is located in Church Close), dating from the latter part of the 11th century or early in the 12th. The tower arch opening into the nave is 13th century, as are much of the chancel and nave walls. Probably towards the end of the 13th century or early 14th century the church was reconstructed. The existing arcades were inserted into the nave walls onto the aisles, which were constructed at this time, and the nave walls raised to provide for the clerestory, the window arches of which are decorated on the outside with squared flints. The inventory of 1552 makes it clear that there were three bells in the tower, a fourth being added in 1610. The latter is the only one remaining, the others being sold to defray the cost of repairs in 1765.
  The strange story of farmer Reynolds' stone. Within the churchyard is a large stone covering a grave. It is approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) long x 2 feet (0.61 m) x 18 inches (460 mm) high, being a rectangular block of granite, with circular depressions on the uppermost surface. On each side is inscribed the name of the grave's occupant: James Reynolds. This is originally one of a pair which stood at either side of a pathway in the yard of the farmhouse, in the grounds of the ruined Beeston Priory. The path itself led to what is now known as the Abbot's Freshwater Spring Pond. A local tale says that about 1938–41, when both boulders were in place, a farmer named James Reynolds often drove his horse and cart along this pathway. Several times, a hooded grey ghost would hide behind two boulders and would leap out from behind one of the stones at sunset, and try to grab the horse's reins before vanishing. This, although terrifying the animals, seems not to have perturbed the man unduly. However, he ordered that the stone in question be laid upon his grave after his death, in an attempt at 'laying' the apparition. James Reynolds died in 1941 and, in accordance with his wishes, the boulder now lies atop his grave, his wife Ann Elizabeth also being interred there in 1967. There is no record as to whether or not the 'exorcism' was successful, and indeed, a local woman who knew the Reynolds could not confirm the story. The other stone of the pair can now be seen lying against the north wall of the churchyard.
  A former resident of the area reports that "in the early 1960s" the two stones were located on a grass verge beside the main Cromer road and argues that they may be glacial erratics which were formerly "used by the local Iceni for the sort of rituals Celts did with stones with depressions elsewhere".
  Orben Beck  is a tiny pond of half an acre located in a cliff-top caravan park and only yards from the sea. Depths range from six to twelve feet. The pond is popular with anglers and holds a variety of coarse fish. Legend has it that it is bottomless, and that at night you could see a horse and cart being driven into it by a dead man.
  Abbey Farmhouse is a Grade II listed building  and is located on the Eastern side of Beeston Regis Common.
  Within the parish is Beeston Hall School, the largest boarding preparatory school in East Anglia. Beeston Regis Hall was once a family home of the Wyndham Ketton-Cremers on the Beeston Regis Estate, part of the much larger Felbrigg Estate, the family seat. In 1940 a German bomb hit the school, causing slight damage. The Hall was leased to Thomas Tapping and his wife Bessie, who opened the private Beeston Hall School in 1948. In 1967 the school became an incorporated trust, and in 1970, following the death of Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, the last squire of Felbrigg, the school acquired the freehold and about 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land. Over the years the school has expanded; it is the biggest employer in the parish. It has also acquired other surrounding land including Beeston Hall Common, which it purchased from the parish of Beeston Regis.
caption: Farmer James Reynolds' headstone in Beeston Regis churchyard
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