It is 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of Lowestoft and the same distance south-west of Great Yarmouth and is in the East Suffolk district.

The parish is made up of the villages of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet and at the 2011 United Kingdom census had a population of 427.

[1] The village of St Olaves was formerly part of the parish of Herringfleet until local government reorganisation in 1974 redrew the county boundary.

[7][8] The village was rebuilt during the 19th-century at the direction of Samuel Morton Peto, a railway developer who owned Somerleyton Hall.

[4] The lines passes close to Cockerell's boatyard, Somerleyton Marina, and Herringfleet Windmill, both of which are within The Broads national park.