Buckenham parish sits in eastern Norfolk, adjacent to the River Yare between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. The parish is bordered to the south by the river and consists of an extensive stretch of marshland (now a bird reserve in part) and some agricultural land on higher ground to the north of the isolated cluster of farms which is all that exists of a "village". This is a small and sparesely populated parish both at the time of the transcript and also today.

The parish church of St Nicholas sits just off the marshes on slightly higher ground. It is unusual in its octagonal tower which has some features indicating a 13th century origin. Much is masked by the restoration in 1841 but what remains is mostly in the Early English style and older than many Norfolk churches.