The parish of Reedham sits in Eastern Norfolk in the valley of the River Yare between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. The village sits on the north bank of the river at a large bend where the river turns to head for the estuary of Breydon Water. Always a major crossing point, a chain ferry has operated for many years as the only crossing of the Yare between Great Yarmouth and Norwich, it is also the site of the railway crossing taking the line from Norwich to Lowestoft across the Yare. The settlement is split into two distinct areas - those on the riverbank and a smaller nucleus to the north set above the flood plain of the river.

St John the Baptist church sits in the north eastern part of the village on a ridge of higher land with superb views across the marshland to Breydon and Great Yarmouth. It appears to be a typical 14th/15th century Norfolk flint Perpendicular church, but there are oddities, some of the stones forming the northern side of the church are reused Roman material. Another feature of the church is the contemporary stained glass East window, its predecessor was destroyed by fire, which is challenging in its design.

The register books which form this transcript are something of a challenge. An initial register book was commenced in 1813 and after 7 entries was apparently lost with a change of incumbent. For 4 years there was no baptismal register until 1817 when a new book was commenced, entries for the "gap" were entered into the front blank pages from "the memory of the inhabitants". In its turn this register book was abandoned in 1837 - presumably in the confusion created by the start of civil registration - and a new 1600 entry book commenced which runs through beyond the period of this transcript.

These registers are filmed on microfiche 3 to 6 in the collection of the Norfolk Record Office and from which this transcript was prepared. The quality of image, it being an elderly filming, is not good and images are lacking in crispness and clarity, indeed many entries were rechecked against the surviving Bishop's Transcripts to ensure a readable image. Given the quality of the images unfortunately it is likely that misreading may have occurred although every effort has been made to minimise this.