The parish of Hethel lies in southern Norfolk about 4 miles east of the market town of Wymondham. Hethel is a relatively small and scattered place with no real defined village centre, a few farms and cottages lie along the lane leading inward from Bracon Ash but otherwise a diffuse community. Hethel sits about a mile west of the B1113 road which leads from the city of Norwich southwestwards to New Buckenham. Like most Norfolk communities its economy would have been underpinned by arable farming, this is a fertile area of the county and big cereal fields still dominate the landscape which is one of a broad plateau at or around 50 metres above the sea. It was this "flat Norfolk" that encouraged the placement of air-bases during World War 2 and that at Hethel has in more recent times become the home of sports car manufacturer Lotus, the runways and perimeter becoming part of their test track.

The lane from Bracon Ash passes through a crossroads and continues westward to All Saints' church before petering out into footpaths. All Saints is one of Norfolk's earliest churches with its western tower showing long-and-short quoins indicative of a pre-Conquest build, Pevsner does not give a date but early 11th century is certainly a possibility. Much else is typical of a Norfolk church, a mixture of Decorated & Perpendicular styles with later overlay. To the north, however, lies the Branthwaite family chapel, created from the former northern chapel, and holding the alabaster monuments of Miles & Mary Branthwaite, built in 1730 to house the monuments. Most of the windows of nave & chancel were replaced around this time and in 1819 the eastern doorway was constructed. The church seems to have been spared the usual Victorian restoration. Church Lane has sufficient verge for careful parking, it is a dead-end so passing traffic is unlikely, outside the hedged churchyard; once within there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.