The parish of Alderford lies roughly 10 miles northwest of the city of Norwich and 3 miles southeast of the small market town of Reepham. Alderford is a small place, indeed, little more than a hamlet which sits a mile north of the A1067 road connecting Norwich with Fakenham. Situated just a short distance north of the River Wensum Alderford parish is one of the smallest in a county of small rural parishes, it covers just 431 acres and would have had a population of fewer than 50 folk. Away from the Wensum valley much of the parish was common, the soils being poor on a glacial remnant of sands and gravels. Farming, like in much of Norfolk, would have dominated but the poor soils were unsuitable for arable in much of the area and grazing was the preferred exploitation. The common would have been well used for gathering broom and a useful source of flint.

St John the Baptist's church sits on the northern side of Hall Road just west of its junction with the Norwich to Reepham road. This church is fairly typical of Norfolk churches, begun in the Decorated style of the early 14th century and completed in the Perpendicular style of the latter half of the same century. The window tracery adequately expresses the style shifts with Decorated cusped "Y" tracery in the nave and a big Perpendicular style window on the southern face. For once Pevsner does not mention a restoration so if one happened it was undoubtedly light and fairly sensitive to the existing styles. Hall Road is fairly narrow but visitors can take advantage of the heath's car park for an extended visit. The church is well-screened by trees from the road which a semi-hidden entrance leading into a churchyard which has the better angles free of impeding obstacles even if the northwestern corner is not.