The parish of Rougham lies in west central Norfolk about 7 miles north of the market town of Swaffham and a similar distance southwest of Fakenham. Rougham is a small and compact village which lies a little over a mile west of the A1065 road which connects the two above named places. Rougham, like most Norfolk parishes, had a largely arable farming economy with 90% of the parish acreage set to crops augmented by small areas of pasture. The parish sits on the western edge of the central Norfolk arable area, to its west land rises with underlying chalk, an area formerly dominated by sheep walks as the soil was less productive and which is crossed by the nearby Peddar's Way ancient pathway. Rougham is, at its heart, an estate village but one that has grown a small village despite the land being concentrated into the holdings of a single family, Rougham Hall, the home of the North family, dominates the village's northwestern corner. The landscape around is fairly level with no obvious high points dominating, a landscape of broad cereal fields and big skies.

St Mary's church sits between the village and the estate, a not uncommon site for an estate village. The church represents a fairly typical era in church building for its county, begun in the early 14th century Decorated style and largely completed in the later Perpendicular, a product of the 14th century but modified by later restorers. From the earlier Decorated style one finds the western tower and southern doorway whilst the reused windows of the replaced northern aisle indicate that it too was Decorated initially. The nave, together with clerestory, and chancel are Perpendicular and later. Work, at the behest of the North family, was done as early as the late 17th century when the former northern aisle was removed but the general restoration was late and 20th century, a major restoration of 1913 which rebuilt a replacement northern aisle, replaced most of the roofing and restored many windows as well created a most unusual feature namely an internal vestry from much of the aisle. As The Street bends through the village the church's lychgate is prominent on the western side, parking should be under shading trees just before, leading to a grassy path to the church. The churchyard has a few trees but is generally uncluttered and not an inconvenience to the photographer.