The parish of Gissing lies in south Norfolk about 3 miles north of the market town of Diss. Gissing is a rather spread-out village lying in lanes to the west of the busy A140 road which links Norwich with Ipswich and also west of the main Norwich to London main railway line. The area around Gissing is dominated by arable agriculture, cereals and crops such as oil seed & sugar beet dominate in large and largely flat open fields. Gissing sits on an area of Norfolk that is largely a plateau with few contours for miles and land gently sloping towards the valley of the River Waveney a few miles to the south. The notional centre of Gissing is in the group of properties around the church and pub, a social centre for what is a dispersed community.

St Mary's church is located at a junction on the main lane through the parish which runs southwards to Burston. The church has the characteristic round tower which is normally taken to indicate Saxon origins, however Pevsner indicates a Norman date as more likely. There are other Norman features, notably the southern doorway but much of the remainder of the church once again falls into the Perpendicular period so typical of Norfolk churches. The church sits behind tall hedges but access is by metal gates which are just along the lanes which runs eastwards from the junction.