[1][2] The village sits astride of the B1145 Kings Lynn to Mundesley road that dissects North Norfolk west to east.

The village's name means 'Beaw's island'[3] The civil parish has an area of 6.81 square kilometres (2.63 sq mi) and in the 2011 census had a population of 216 in 105 households.

[4] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

The building and its surrounding area were the subject of a live dig by the Time Team programme in 1998.

They determined it started life as a monastic settlement before becoming the parochial church of Bawsey; also during the weekend dig, the Norman arch under the former central tower was restored after it had collapsed some years before.