It follows the discovery in 1934 of a stone in Beaumont which recorded North African troops as part of the garrison of the Roman fort of Aballava in the third century.
St Michael's was later built on the site.
Revd Tudor Boddam-Whetham is from St Michael's and told Premier they did not know what the stone meant.
He said: "Apparently back in the 1930's there had been a study of an archaeological stone in the parish nearby, and we hadn't joined up the dots.
"That stones pointed to the fact that Moroccan troops had been here on Hadrians Wall, in the fort that's based under the church building."
A new history series for the BBC is being made, A Black History of Britain, and a film crew visited St Michael's, Burgh-by-Sands to shoot the unveiling of a special commemorative plaque.
David Olusoga, BAFTA-winning historian and broadcaster, will present the new two-part series that will be broadcast later in 2016.
Carolyne Baines, churchwarden at St Michael's.
Revd Tudor Boddam-Whetham told Premier they were not expecting the site of their church to be the first recorded settlement of Africans in the country.
He said he was "quite surprised, here we are in a rather quiet part of north west England and to be the first ever recorded black community wasn't what we expected really, we thought our links cross to Ireland with Christianity coming across from there."
An inscription on the plaque reads: 'The first recorded African community in Britain guarded a Roman fort on this site. 3rd century AD. A BBC History Project.'
The film crew spent around 12 hours at the site and joined members of the congregation as well as representatives of the North East of England African Community Association and local residents and school children for the unveiling of the special plaque.
Revd Tudor Boddam-Whetham said that St Michael's is steeped in history: "We already knew were were based on a Roman Fort and we've got Hadrians Wall going past, but adding this extract aspect and this multi-national link is really important as well."
School children outside St Michael's.
Carolyne Baines, churchwarden at St Michael's, said: "It was wonderful to see so many different groups gathered together to mark this event.
"In particular it was lovely to see Year five and six pupils from Burgh-by-Sands Primary able to show to all those there, artwork of what they thought their village may have looked like in the third century.
"There was a wonderful buzz of excitement on the day. We now look forward to seeing our village and church feature when A Black History of Britain is broadcast in November."
Listen to Premier's Antony Bushfield speak to Revd Tudor Boddam-Whetham here:
