The Sign
The sign was made by the locals and erected in 1993 sat nicely underneath a tiled canopy to protect it from the elements. The sign is located in front of the church. Specific names mentioned on a plaque on the post are: Bob Gowan, Pat Keefe, James Kent & Margaret Warwick.

The sign has quite a few themes including:

Oak leaves at the top with a bishops mitre in front. The mitre is a reference to Matthew 'Nosey' Parker who was a dean of Stoke College and Master of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge as well as chaplain to Anne Boleyn and a guardian of a young Elizabeth I; he also became Archbishop of Cantebury 1559-75.

The two farm animals are the Suffolk Punch horse on the left and the black faced Suffolk sheep. Along with the ears of corn they represent the importance of agriculture in the area.

The medallion in the centre could be Sir Hervey Elwes, 2nd Baronet who had a reputation of being an extreme miser who was a local landowner and Whig politician between 1706-1722 and sat in the House of Commons. He died in 1763 worth rather a lot of money! It is thought that Scrooge was based on him. However, it could also be his even more miserly nephew, John Meggot, who changed his name to Elwes as required in the will. His mother, who had a small fortune at hand, actually starved herself to death. Either way it represents pure misery!

Behind Sir Hervey is a stone bridge over the river Stour, represented by the blue wavy lines below. The bridge  is located to the south of the church.

A small red disk can be seen behind the sheep legs which has the name 'James Kent' inscribed who has painted a few watercolours of the village and I assume painted the village sign!

The Name and Population
The population of the village was 512 at the 2011 census. The name 'Stoke' means "Outlying farmstead", from Old English. It could also mean "a religious place". It was called Stoches in 1086 and  Stokes near Clare in 1287.

Other Points of Interest
The church is dedicated to St John the Baptist, which sits in the grounds of Stoke College and houses Matthew Parker's pulpit and several unique wall paintings, one of which dates back to Mary I.

Stoke College is now an independent school for 11-18 year olds.

Stoke College gave accommodation and asylum to many leading reformers as Bacon, Bilney, Cecil, Bradford and Ridley. Dr. Parker is said to have hidden them within the thick walls and in chimney places during the reign of Mary I. Such cavities are said still to exist.