The River Key, a minor tributary of the Thames, passes close to the west of the village.

[1] During the First World War, the area along with the nearby village of Purton served as Army Remount Service depots.

[4] The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve, Stoke Common Meadows, can be found in the vicinity.

Situated at the end of Stoke Common Lane (grid reference SU 070 904), the meadows consist of a small wood and grasslands, with ancient hedgerows and ditches.

Wildlife found here includes mainly wildflowers: Pepper-saxifrage, sweet vernal-grass, heath spotted-orchid, adder's-tongue fern (Ophioglossum), bugle, ox-eye daisy and common knapweed.

[6][7] William Willets (1918–1995), art historian and curator of museums in Singapore and Malaysia, was born in Purton Stoke.