[2] The village is located within Thetford Forest on a meander of the River Little Ouse on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

The village was the administrative centre for the Eastern Forestry Commission for many years, following the planting of tens of thousands of trees in the Breckland to form the Thetford Forest.

In 1972 the bridge over the River Little Ouse appeared in programme 50 of the fifth series of BBC's sitcom Dad's Army, when Captain Mainwaring and his troops attempt to demolish it.

On 18 July 2022 a high of 38.1°C was recorded in Santon Downham, making it the hottest place in England and the United Kingdom on that day.

[6] The Santon Downham Tramway was a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) long narrow-gauge railway, which was operated around 1918 to 1922.