 The community is bordered to the north and east by the River Ant and dykes and to the south and west by tracks and hedgerows.The name of the village means 'bank or hillock of the Smale', the Smale being the old name for the River Ant, the second element deriving from Old English "beorg" which means hillock.It is believed locally that the field to the north of the church was the site of the original Saxon settlement.