The parish of Hales lies in southeastern Norfolk about two miles southeast of the market town of Loddon. Hales sits at the junction of the A146 (Norwich to Beccles) road with the B1136 which heads off it eastwards to Haddiscoe. Hales is a small and fairly compact village with most properties lining either side of the B1136 but the parish extends southwards to Hales Green and also across the A146 to Hales Hall. The area is a broad plateau sitting at roughly 20 metres above the sea, there are few contours hereabouts. The land is almost exclusively used for arable agriculture with large fields of cereals, oil seed and beet predominating.

St Margaret's church sits on a narrow lane 3/4 of a mile south of the main village in splendid isolation. The round tower alerts immediately to the early origins of the church and Pevsner describes it rightly as "a perfect Norman country church". He does, however, concede that the main part of the building is late-Norman with a mid-12th century date, the tower being earlier albeit with a 15th century parapet. The northern doorway of the nave is praised lavishly for its crisp carving. Pevsner does bemoan that the windows of the chancel are 13th century and thus spoil the Norman "composition". The church faces open fields and is set back from Church Lane behind a thick-hedged border, the vegetation is allowed to mature within the churchyard as a wildlife sanctuary except for mown paths. St Margaret's was deconsecrated in 1973 but remains well looked after.