The parish of Briston lies in northeastern Norfolk about 4 miles southwest of the large village of Holt. Briston is a substantial village in its own right and stands alongside the B1354 road which runs between Aylsham & the Holt/Fakenham road. Most of Briston sits either along the B road or to its south in a network of lanes. The notional village centre being at a major crossroads of lanes just to the northwest of All Saints' church where shops, pubs and other village amenities are gathered. Briston at the time of this transcript would have largely been dominated by arable agriculture although Briston would have functioned similarly to a small market town for the surrounding area, its former markets have since lapsed. Briston was notable as being a hotbed for nonconformity and persons missing from these records may well be found in one of the nonconformist registers which have survived.

All Saints' church sits on the western side of Church Street behind a low brick-topped flint wall. The church is an early church for Norfolk although its round tower (usually indicative of an early origin) fell during the 18th century; the date of the fall appears to be disputed (Pevsner says 1795 whilst the Topographic Dictionary of England has it as 1724. The fall resulted in the complete rebuilding of the western wall of the church. Much else is probably early to late 14th century with chancel in the Decorated style and the nave mixing that style with its Perpendicular successor. Victorian treatments only resulted in some refurbishment apart from the replacement of the Chancel roof. The site is rather open which means photography is not impeded at all.