The tiny parish of Oxnead sits on the banks of the River Bure about 4 miles southeast of the market town of Aylsham. The parish covered a very small area, just 650 acres, and consisted of little more than the grounds of Oxnead Estate (owned at one time by the Paston family) plus a scatter of farms and cottages. The valley setting and riverside location meant that a mixed farming regime would have been present, arable on drier ground and pastures in the Bure floodplain. It is clear from the small population that this parish was very much a closed parish with virtually all land owned by the local worthies there was little inward migration and no village grew up.

St Michael's church lies close by the hall and shielded from Oxnead's dead-end lane by a thick shelter-belt of trees. The basic nave and chancel are dated by Pevsner to the 13th century but the church has been much modified over the years intervening. The tower had its top layer added during the 16th century, in the 17th century north and south porches were added and in the 18th the eastern gable and as usual the Victorians and Georgians made their usual changes as part of restorations. To enter the site a shaded pathway leads through the trees to the churchyard which is roughly oval in shape and open to photography.