It is 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of the market town of Bungay and is part of a group of parishes with similar names known collectively as the Saints.

At the Domesday survey Ilketshall was recorded as a single settlement with a population of 82 households in Wangford Hundred.

[5] The parish church, which is dedicated to St John the Baptist, was established during the 13th century by Sir James de Ilketshall.

The church became part of the holdings of Bungay Nunnery in 1267 when Sir James failed to repay a loan to the nuns.

[6] This rose to 87 at the 1881 census and declined during the 20th century, reaching less than 50 by the end of World War II.