Runton parish comprises two small villages, called East and West Runton, and is from one to two miles distant from Cromer. It contains about one thousand acres of land, subject to the encroachments of the ocean, and is bounded on the south by a lofty range of hills. The high hill to the left is known by the name of Wrinkleborrow Hill. The church, which is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, stands on an acclivity above West Runton, and is a rectory, united with Aylmerton. East Runton is a mere fishing village, nearly a mile east of the church, on a small green. Sir T. F. Buxton owns a very neat mansion here. About a mile distant is the small village of Beeston, or as it is distinguished from others of the same name, Beeston Regis, or Beeston on the Sea, which adjoins Lower Sherringham. The church, which is near the beach, is dedicated to All Saints, and is a rectory, of which the patronage is vested in the Duchy of Lancaster. The object of attraction here, however, to the visitor, is the ruins of its ancient priory, which stand at the east end of the village in a romantic dale, sheltered from the cold winds of the north by lofty hills, yet so situated as to command a noble view of the sea and of the surrounding country. The site indeed of all the religious houses of old was so invariably selected on principles of the best taste, and with the utmost regard to the local advantages and conveniences of the place, that a recollection of the fact should always draw attention to the point, with a view to discover what these were. The priory was dedicated to St. Mary, and was founded in the reign of King John, by the Lady Isabel, or, as some say, by the Lady Elizabeth de Cressy, for canons of the order of St. Augustine. At the dissolution it was granted to Sir Edward Windham and others. A small tower, and the whole of the west gable-wall of the Priory church are standing, together with many other large masses of walls, over which the “ruin-loving ivy” extends its faithful embraces. Some years ago the ivy grew most luxuriantly, but it was ruthlessly cut down, since which time, though its growth has been encouraged, it has not recovered its original beauty. To see these ruins to advantage, they should be visited in the evening, when the glowing yet subdued rays of the setting sun illuminating the most picturesque parts of the abbey and the surrounding landscape, and throwing others into deep and harmonious shade, a picture is presented to the careless observer which cannot fail to give gratification, and to awaken in the more meditative that train of melancholy but pleasing thought, which seems so peculiarly to belong to such spectacles and to such seasons.