The parish of Northrepps lies in northeastern Norfolk, prevented from being a coastal parish by the thin strips that are Overstand & Sidestrand parishes. Northrepps is a small and compact village that is located roughly 3 miles southeast of the coastal resort of Cromer. Northrepps sits just over a mile east of the meeting point of the A140 (Norwich to Cromer) with the A149 (Great Yarmouth to Cromer) roads. By Norfolk standards the landscape is fairly undulating with glacial deposits forming a hummocky terrain that results in the scenic Toll's Hill with exceptional views of the nearby North Sea coastline. Those glacial deposits gave much of the parish a poor soil and here in medieval times rabbit warrenries flourished, the southern portion of the parish, however, is totally arable like most of the county. At one time Northrepps abounded with rail lines being sat between the current Cromer to Norwich line and the former Midland & Great Northern coastal line which ran between Northrepps and the sea, albeit this has since been dismantled. An unusual feature for a small village is Northrepps' grassy airstrip which is popular with light aircraft enthusiasts.

St Mary's church sits on the southern edge of the village on the western side of Church Street. Whilst there has been a church here since immediately after the Conquest traces of that early church have largely been removed by later work. A scatter of zigzag work in the eastern end is all that remains of Norman Romanesque and the 12th century whilst two lancets of the Early English Gothic and the 13th century remain in the chancel. From the 14th century and Decorated in style only the arcades remain to complete scattered remnants of early work. The remainder of the church is Perpendicular from that great church-building era and documentary dates place the majority of the work towards the latter stages of the 15th century. Wills recording donations for the western tower are dated 1475 - 1487 whilst those for the battlements are later still in the 1520s. The usual Victorian restoration also made changes with the clerestory, in particular, receiving new windows and a vestry added. The broad western verge of Church Street has a substantial gravelled parking area outside the walls of the churchyard, which show the local flint off admirably. The ample churchyard has no obstacles for the photographer.