The parish of Narford lies in west central Norfolk about 5 miles northwest of the market town of Swaffham. Narford is a real curiosity, at the time of the conquest it was said to be over a mile in length, at the time of Edward the Confessor it was large enough to be granted a market and held two annual fairs yet today it has all disappeared. There is no village as such, the parish being dominated by the grounds of Narford Hall and traversed by the course of the River Nar. Sadly the hall and grounds have long been "out-of-bounds" with access restricted by the Fountaine family - even Pevsner failed to gain entry. The parish sits at the northern bounds of Breckland with sandy soiled open countryside to its south which would have been dominated by sheep at the time of this transcript.

Like the Hall and its grounds, St Mary's church was also for a long time out-of-bounds as access was through the site of the hall. Thankfully in recent times a new path, running northwards from the Narborough to Southacre lane means we can once more appreciate the parish church. Parts of the chancel date from the 13th century, albeit much masked by its rebuild of 1902, the rest appears to be 14th century and Decorated in style. The church was significantly restored in 1857 at which time the roofs and windows were renewed and restored respectively. The new path starts from Narford Road just at the edge of woodland and runs from new gates through attractively stunted pines to the site, largely left to wildlife the churchyard is open with few photographic obstructions and is a quiet and peaceful place.