The parish of Stanford, incorporating Sturston after Holy Cross was demolished in 1790, lies in southwestern Norfolk about 8 miles north of the Suffolk market town of Brandon. At the time of this transcript Stanford was a small farming community within the sandy heaths of Norfolk's Breckland. Sheep grazing and rabbit warrening were the predominant land uses on the unproductive sandy soils. Stanford was a small community sitting at a crossroads due east of Mundford on a narrow lane leading to Thompson. All this changed during World War 2 as the area was requisitioned by the Armed Forces for a tank training area, the residents being evacuated from their homes at short notice. The area remains with the military today as part of the extensive STANTA Battle Area with very limited public access.

All Saints' church sits on the northern side of the lane leading eastwards from the former village centre towards Thompson. The church has ancient origins, a Norman round tower remains from the original building whilst archaeological digs in 1851 during the restoration found the foundations of an 11th century apse. Much else was of the 14th or 15th century but by 1851 the northern aisle & chancel were in a "ruinous state" and the church was extensively restored and rebuilt at that time. In the late 20th century the roofing was removed and replaced with protective steel plates fashioned to resemble pantiles. Access to the church is permitted only on rare dates as live firing takes place within the Battle Area at most other times.

A single standard 800-entry register book covers not only the period of this transcript but runs onward to finish with the evacuation of the village. This register is filmed on Microfiche 2 in the collection of Norfolk Record Office and images are also available, superior in quality, on the free web site Familysearch these being used to prepare this transcript.