It is located 1 mile (2 km) south of Saxmundham, its post town.

The village is very small and irregularly built, and is wholly agricultural.

It is Grade II* listed for its surviving medieval work, notably the south porch and tower.

[2] During the 1960s and 1970s Lt. Col. Sir Eric and Lady Penn lived at Sternfield House, a large house next to the church with extensive gardens and as Sir Eric was the comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office and a trusted presence in Buckingham Palace, senior members of the royal family came and stayed at Sternfield House on a number of occasions.

Another notable property is Sternfield Hall, with its classic Georgian soft red brick facade and late 16th-century wing which is probably the site of a medieval manor house where on 27 April 1385, a licence to crenellate at Sternefeld (Sternfield) was granted to Sir Michael de la Pole by Richard II in year eight of his reign.