The parish of Waterden lies in northwestern Norfolk about 4 miles northwest of the market town of Fakenham. Waterden sits midway between the B1355 & B1105 roads from Fakenham to Burnham Market and to Wells next the sea respectively. There is very little indeed to Waterden, one of the tiniest parishes in the county and one of the smallest rural parishes in England. There is not even sufficient of a centre to qualify for the term "hamlet" just a scatter of farms and cottages across almost 800 acres of arable fields. Despite its small stature Waterden has been around for a long time, it carries a mention in Domesday Book and an ancient Roman road forms the parish's western boundary. Together with neighbouring Egmere and Quarles it forms a trio of abandoned medieval villages in this area.

All Saints' church sits, in fields, just north of Waterden Lane, a narrow lane connecting South Creake with North Barsham. Rather surprisingly this tiny church is one of the most ancient in its county, upper windows of the church show Anglo-Saxon features indicative of the pre-Conquest period. In addition the two doorways, both northern and southern, are Norman and 12th century in origin. The early theme continues in the main body where Early English Gothic lancets from the early 13th century can be found in both nave & chancel. There has been much change since, the former western tower collapsed and was removed leaving a stump, the southern aisle, too, has been removed and extensive restoration in the 17th century wrought further change. Waterden Lane is narrow but the verge is wide enough for a car to park by the entrance to the grassy track that runs the 100 metres or so to the isolated building, the tiny churchyard does somewhat crowd the church making it difficult to adequately capture from within.