The parish of Banningham lies in northeastern Norfolk about 2 miles northeast of the market town of Aylsham. Banningham is a rather strung-out village lying just over a half mile east of the A140 road which connects Norwich with Cromer. Much of Banningham is spread along Colby Road stretching for almost a half mile northeast from the large village green. A typical Norfolk arable farming village in a small parish of around 1,000 acres, Banningham is typical of much of this part of Norfolk, an area of gentle terrain, barely 30 metres above the sea, with large fields of cereal, beet & oilseed. The village green setting is, however, a great attraction with inn, church & large green forming the hub of the village despite being at one end of the properties.

St Botolph's church sits opposite the Crown Inn and adjacent to that green. The church is fairly typical of Norfolk churches albeit with the majority in the Decorated style rather than the Perpendicular. Both nave & chancel were constructed in the Decorated style of the 14th century but both have been modified extensively, the chancel in 1860 had the eastern wall with its window rebuilt and in 1986 the nave received a restoration which included rebuilding the chancel arch, often the earliest portion of a church. The lofty western tower and the clerestory were Perpendicular and later although the build was probably a single ongoing phase crossing that style boundary, again restorations took place, the tower in 1926 whilst almost all of the clerestory windows are 19th century. The final addition was the eastern chapel on the southern aisle for which documentary evidence gives a date of 1518, late in the Perpendicular period. The church sits within the southwestern corner of the junction behind a chest-height brick-and-flint wall, wooden gates opposite the Crown grant entry. Sadly the southeastern aspect is severely impacted by trees limiting the angles available to best capture the building.