The headwaters of the River Stiffkey flow through both East and North Barsham and Houghton St Giles.

[1] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk.

[citation needed] The mediaeval pilgrimage centre of Walsingham lies only 1¼ miles north of Houghton St Giles, and the Roman Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady or Slipper Chapel is located within the civil parish of Barsham.

[citation needed] The Wymondham to Wells Branch railway line ran through the parish, but this closed during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s.

[citation needed] Media related to Barsham, Norfolk at Wikimedia Commons