Lying in the Lincolnshire Fens, Sutton St James did not exist at the time of the 1086 Domesday Book.

[2] The parish church is dedicated to Saint James, and is unusual in that the chancel and tower are disconnected, the nave having been destroyed during the Interregnum, when Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of England.

It stands at the junction of four roads west of the village, and is a scheduled monument and Grade II listed.

[9] It is believed to be one of a rare group of medieval boundary markers of which only two other crosses survive.

[10][11] Sutton St James has a butchers, a primary school, church hall, village hall, gun shop, hairdressers, public house, post office, shop, bowls club, football club, a small park, garage, a Baptist church and a playgroup.