The parish of Hickling lies in eastern Norfolk not too far from its eastern North Sea coast and sitting roughly 3 miles southeast of the small market town of Stalham and a couple of miles east of the A149 road which connects Stalham with the port of Great Yarmouth. Hickling consists of three distinct areas each separate but almost contiguous, from south to north there are Hickling Heath, Hickling Green and, finally, Hickling itself. Curiously Hickling is the smallest of the three. Hickling is a Broadland settlement dominated by water, early gazetteers estimate that almost a half of the parish acreage is marsh, most within the extensive waters of Hickling Broad. Whilst the drier land would have been set to arable fields, the marshes would have been extensively grazed as well as being exploited for reed-thatch & wildfowl and the Broad and nearby Thurne used for the transportation of arable produce and the products of the inevitable weavers. Today wildlife reserves abound in the vicinity with the Stubb Mill facility renowned for its cranes and harriers.

St Mary's church sits within the northernmost part of Hickling tucked away behind properties on the northern side of the dead-end lane of The Walk. St Mary is a fairly typical example of a Norfolk church commenced in the Decorated period extending to completion in the subsequent Perpendicular style. Since the church was much restored during Victorian times much of those stylistic elements are not original but because pre-Victorian images are available it is clear that the restorers replaced in a like-for-like style. Thus we have Decorated style shown well within the arcades, the aisle windows and parts of the tower whilst the Perpendicular style is shown in the west window. Restoration came in two distinct phases, the first of 1875-1876 targeted mainly the roofs and windows whilst that of 1890 tackled the western tower. A small triangular area sits on The Walk allowing a car or two to carefully park, the church is reached by a short footpath to the east of some houses from where a lengthy gravelled pathway leads across an open & uncluttered churchyard, no obstacles here for the photographer.