The parish of Potter Heigham lies in eastern Norfolk roughly equidistant between the port of Great Yarmouth and the market town of North Walsham, being 12 miles northwest of the former and a similar distance southeast of the latter. Potter Heigham sits on and mainly west of the A149 road (a road which has been upgraded and re-routed along the former track bed of the Midland & Great Northern railway) which connects those two places and largely consists of two distinct areas, the old village and modern developments sit to the north of the River Thurne and either side of the A149 whilst the Broadland boating centre that is most tourists' view is a marina and associated boatyards upon the Thurne itself. The parish is an extensive one for Broadland Norfolk but of its total acreage almost half is described in early gazetteers as either marsh or "waste", today these grazing marshes that border the course of the Thurne and spread up towards Heigham Sound are the most notable feature of the parish. These marshes and their associated "carr" forests are a protected landscape managed for the extensive wildlife including wintering wildfowl and raptors. The other side of Potter Heigham is grouped west of its iconic low bridge, a feature with little clearance that introduces new boat hirers into the navigational difficulties of Broadland waterways at the earliest point of their hire.This modern development of boating hire replaced the once extensive wherry traffic that transported mainly agricultural produce from Norfolk's hinterland to the city of Norwich or the port of Great Yarmouth.

St Nicholas' church sits east of the A149 and on the northeastern corner of the village. The presence of a round tower is usually indicative of an early church and whilst St Nicholas' top stage is 15th century the basal section is 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style. This age is repeated in a deeply splayed window in the chancel which also shows Norman features, a further 13th century window is also present in the chancel. The church's main body was clearly largely rebuilt in the 15th century as much else is in the Perpendicular style of that period and documentary evidence from donations in wills indicate work was proceeding up to at least 1535 as a new aisle was added to the 15th century nave. It was during this phase that the octagonal flushwork top was added to the tower as well as the 4-bay arcades to the nave. Restorations in Victorian times were in two distinct phases of 1875 and 1895 at which time much work on the chancel roof took place as well as a general refresh and window replacement. Church Lane heads northeast from the village and ends at a pleasant triangular green which provides space for a few cars to park, it is the start of a stretch of the Weaver's Way path so is popular and often crowded. Whilst there are bordering trees close to the southern aspect they are sufficiently removed to allow adequate access for photography.