The parish of North Barsham, one of a trio of Barshams in this area, lies in northwestern Norfolk just over 4 miles north of the market town of Fakenham. North Barsham is located just over a mile east of the B1105 road which connects Fakenham with Wells Next the Sea. There is very little to North Barsham, and it would appear to have always been so, just a group of farms and cottages gathered around church and a T-junction of narrow lanes just west of the River Stiffkey. North Barsham just about scrapes into the religious landscape of the nearby Catholic shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Slipper Chapel falling within the tiny acreage of the parish. Like most Norfolk rural parishes farming of arable crops such as cereals, beet and more recently oil-seed dominate the local landscape, albeit there are some meadows along the river. A tiny congregration of fewer than 100 souls utilise close to 1,000 acres of land, one of the smaller parishes in the area.

All Saints' church sits tucked away behind cottages just to the northeast of the parish's main junction of lanes. Like many churches it has seen much change over the centuries but retains sufficient original fabric to date its origins to the late 13th century. Lancet-style lights in some windows of the early English Gothic period remain to confirm that date. The re-set western doorway carries a slightly later date of the early 14th century but much else is so much altered as to be undateable. Archaeological evidence indicates that the church once extended to both west and east of its present size but a drawing of 1824 confirms this pre-dated that sketch. The restorations of the Victorians were carried out across a sustained period from 1865 to 1898 and included the addition of the western bellcote. The lane on which the entrance sits is rather narrow so careful parking is required, the church being accessed to the left of a house's driveway. Once within the churchyard is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.