Beeston Hill, or "Beeston Bump" as it is called locally, is a cliff-top hill which overlooks the sea and the village. At 207 feet (63m) high, it is the dominating feature of the parish. The hill, part of Cromer Ridge, was once two symmetrical round flat-topped hills in the shape of giant molehills: geological features known as kames. The two hills were left behind when glaciers retreated northwards at the end of the last Ice age, between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago, a recent event in geological timescales. At that time most of what is now the North Sea was dry land, with the Rhine and the Thames combining to form a giant river estuary. As the ice melted, the sea level rose and the North Sea was formed. Since then, Beeston Bump has been eroded by the sea: most of its seaward side had been washed away by the 1930s. Almost 90 yards (80m) of the cliff have now been lost to the sea, along with a brickworks which stood to the east of the summit and a football pitch. In recent times, coastal erosion has been slowed by building groynes and sea walls along the coast and below the hill.