The parish of Ketteringham lies south-west of the city of Norwich just off the busy A11 to London to its south. Ketteringham was a closed parish with the church and parish dominated by the estate of Ketteringham Hall. The parish has no village centre, as such, being merely a collection of farms and cottages and the buildings of the Hall complex. Most of the inhabitants today live on or about the back lane from Cringleford (a suburb of Norwich) to Wymondham.

Like many churches St Peter's is a mixture of ages and styles. The church lies buried in the Ketteringham Hall estate but is accessible from the Hall's driveway. Much of the church dates to a major rebuild in the 17th century, the tower being the principal element. Other features are from the Early English (Gothic) period of the late 12th and early 13th centuries and yet more are clearly Norman. The evidence points to an edifice constantly being renewed over the centuries; the latest renewal in the Victorian era being merely the latest.