The parish of Hockering lies in eastern central Norfolk about 5 miles east of the market town of East Dereham. Hockering is a mid-sized village which once sat on the busy A47 road which crosses Norfolk from Norwich to King's Lynn, to the village's great benefit that road now bypasses just to the south leaving the village main street quiet and relative lightly traversed. At the time of this transcript Hockering would have been a quiet arable farming village, albeit with some pastures too, lying on the northern side of the valley of the River Tud. Today Hockering has expanded a little with new developments as its ease of access to both East Dereham and Norwich have encouraged commuters to settle. The parish sits on rising ground north of the Tud valley, the slightly higher ground being occupied by Hockering Heath and Wood where glacial deposits limit the soils productivity.

St Michael's church sits at the western end of the village, where the main street bends sharply towards its new entry back to the A47. The church has its origins in the early 13th century and makes fine use of the Decorated style within those older sections, the chancel and northern arcade.Documentary evidence places the initial construction to a close date between 1300 & 1320. As one moves westwards through the building the Decorated style changes into the later Perpendicular with the lofty western tower being typical of Norfolk's many such imposing examples. The nave, too, shows windows of the Perpendicular style. The church has, however, been much restored; earlier ones for the roofing in the 16th century were followed by three campaigns in the 19th & 20th centuries The major restoration of 1856 saw an anomalous Early English chancel arch replace the original and further work in 1895 and 1911 have resulted in today's church. The church sits, facing fields and the A47, where the footpath to Hockering Wood leaves the access road from the main road and sits in an intermittently hedged site, whilst there is ample space to the north of the church the edges are close and lined with mature trees on the southern aspects which does somewhat limit the angles available for the photographer.