The parish of Alby lies in northeastern Norfolk roughly 4 miles north of the market town of Aylsham. Alby is one of a confusing set of small parishes lying immediately west of the A140 road which links the city of Norwich with the coastal resort of Cromer. There are a number of small parishes clustered closely together, the result so confusing that the eminent Phillimore has accidentally omitted Alby from their mapping atlas. There is no defined village of Alby, as such, the closest to that being the stretch of properties lining the eastern banks of the Scarrow Beck, named as Alby Hill on modern Ordnance Survey maps, this settlement is, however, closer to Thwaite by Alby's church. Alby Craft Centre lines the A140, itself, but it too is closer to Erpingham, all is a little confusing for a non-local. Regardless of the complicated local geography Alby parish is a typical Norfolk arable parish occupying gently undulating countryside to the south of the glacially-deposited ridge that sits a little further north. Early gazetteers estimate close to 75% of the parish acreage as set to arable and today little has changed, the broad fields of cereals, beet & oil-seed only broken by the pastures along the Scarrow Beck valley.

St Ethelbert's church stands some 3/4s of a mile southeast of Alby Hill amongst fields and accompanied by Alby's historic Reading Room, a former public learning asset designed to improve the rural poor but nowadays an exclusive wedding venue. St Ethelbert is a typical example of the Norfolk churches of the 14th century, built in a mixture of the Decorated & Perpendicular styles that flourished during that century. The early 14th century Decorated style is in the majority, shown well in the tracery of the nave windows and the bell-openings of the western tower. The tower's exact timing is obscured, however, by later work mentioned in will-donation of the late 14th and early 15th century when it was clearly re-designed, as well as in Victorian changes. Scars upon the remaining fabric indicate the church once had aisles but these have been removed in historical times leaving their traces.. The major Victorian restoration took place in the late 1880s when amongst a general refresh of the building the chancel roof was completely replaced and many windows refurbished. The church is reached along either of the two lanes north of Alby Crafts which head westwards from the A140 and meet at the church. Outside the typical flint walling topped with brick& tile there is a rough pull-in for a car or two. Metal gates give way to the grassy churchyard which suffers markedly (from the photographer's aspect) from closely clustering trees which limit the angles available substantially.