Tilney St Lawrence is located within a large parish of the same name, situated in the West Norfolk Local Government District.

They were Tilney St Lawrence and Tilney-cum-Islington which were combined in 1935 to form the fourth largest parish in the Marshland region.

The name Tilney is thought to derive from the Old English for Tibba's homestead,[4] and St Lawrence refers to the dedication of the village parish church.

The village of Tilney St Lawrence did not exist in its own right at the time of the Domesday Book although the settlement of Islington, which lies in the very northeast corner of this parish, is listed.

[10] He was a great friend of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, Marquis of Dorset who sent him to study at Cambridge where he became a fellow of Queens' College.

This exceptionally gifted girl told Roger Ascham that her achievements were due to Mr Aylmer, who teaches me so gently, so pleasantly, and with such fair allurements to learning that I think all the time nothing while I am with him.

[10] It appears that this gentle and encouraging tutor became, as bishop of London from 1577 until his death in 1594, increasingly unpopular because of his arbitrary and unconciliatory disposition.