The Sign

Text by Adrian Pye in part
Drinkstone mill is well known in Suffolk and it is no surprise that it features on the village sign. In fact there are two mills, a post mill and a smock mill, both within 100 yards of each other. The post mill is the oldest postmill in Suffolk having been built 1689 and is Grade I listed. The Smock Mill was built in 1780 on a horse mill which had been in existence in 1689. The mills were known collectively as Clover's Mills as they were worked by the Clover family. Beside the mill is what appears to be a family’s arms, which is a replica of a floor tile in the church. The tile is possibly the coat of arms of Matthew Lovaine who had the advowson of the parish church until his death in 1320 or one of his successors as the tile is dated to the C14th and there are known to have been significant improvements in the church during the 14th century. The sign has lost a lot of its colour when I photographed it in July 2023.

The sign was erected in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee as shown on the post. It is made of wood inside a wooden frame with a small tiled canopy on top. It is located at the junction of the main street and Drinkstone Green Close.

The Name and Population
It was called Drincestune from 1042-66 and then Drencestuna/Drincestona in 1086. The name means "The farmstead or estate of a man called Drengr, from Old Norse and Old English. Its population was 548 in 2011.

Other Points of Interest
The church is dedicated to All Saints.