The parish of Shouldham Thorpe lies in western Norfolk about 5 miles northeast of the market town of Downham Market. Shouldham Thorpe, about a mile southwest of its larger neighbour Shouldham, is little more than a hamlet set just east of the A134 road which connects King's Lynn with Thetford. Shouldham Thorpe is one of a number of settlements which formed along the western edge of dryer land overlooking Norfolk's Fenland to its west. The soils here are sandy and light (this is really an extension of Breckland) and thus suitable for arable agriculture in the days before heavy machinery. The area around Shouldham Thorpe is a broad plateau at around 30 metres above sea level with very few contours marking the map, it is thus very suitable for the large machine cultivated fields of today although prey to wind-blow of the light soils.

St Mary's church, appropriately enough, sits on the southern side of Church Lane partially hidden away behind a row of mature trees. Of the mediaeval church little remains, Pevsner notes a pair of 13th century lancets only, it being largely rebuilt in the 1850s with much use of the the local sandstone (carstone). The original building had a western tower but this fell in 1732 and was never rebuilt. The building is small as befits a small congregation but is rather attractive in its enclosed site.