The parish of St Augustines occupies some of the northernmost ground that lay within the ancient walls of the city of Norwich. Situated in the part of the city north of the River Wensum, colloquially known as "Norwich over the Water", it was home to some of the poorer neighbourhoods within the ancient city. Like the related parishes of St Paul and St James Pockthorpe it was home to the artisanal weavers that characterised the city prior to the industrial revolution and the rise of mechanised northern factories. The area was also home to Norwich's notorious "yards", these properties were usually accessed by a narrow entrance off a main thoroughfare which opened out into a courtyard surrounded by crowded dwellings all sharing a common privy. The upper floors with their better light would be home to the weavers with the clatter of the looms an almost constant background noise, these upper floors had the larger windows to allow sufficient light to operate the hand looms. With the loss of the weaving trade that the city suffered in the 1860s the trades can be seen to diversify into more broadly artisanal trades with shoe-making becoming widespread. Today the yards have largely disappeared and the wider parish is home to more genteel properties as well as the specialised shops that flourish in lesser shopping areas with cheaper rents, modern times have also carved some of Norwich's major roads through the area too.

St Augustine's church sits, appropriately enough on the western side of St Augustine's Street, sadly blighted by traffic as a major route out of the city to the north, set within gardens which have largely replaced the former graveyard. Like many Norfolk churches it is at heart a church of the 14th century, the Decorated style of the first half of that century represented well by the aisle windows, even if they are from the 1880 restoration, whilst that of the Perpendicular shown in the arcades and chapels but also in that characteristic feature, the clerestory. St Augustine's main talking point, however, is its brick western tower which contrasts markedly with the traditional flint of the main body. Pevsner's investigations reveal, however, that it is a mere cladding of a former flint tower, revealed inside, that was built in the mid 1680s. As already mentioned there was a typical Victorian restoration of the early 1880s when the topping battlements were added to the tower, many windows were modernised and the southern porch acquired. Like most city churches St Augustine is best approached on foot, a large chargeable car park serves the nearby shopping centre (spoiler alert - soon to be redeveloped). The churchyard has a low brick wall to separate it from the street's pavement with a "church cut through" crossing the former churchyard as access, there are nuemerous trees around but they cluster to the church's north leaving the favoured aspects available to the photographer.