[1] The author Ralph Wightman, agriculturist, broadcaster, and native of Dorset, described the village as "a beautiful place of deep lanes, orchards and old houses, with a church of quiet charm",[2] and, in a similar vein, Sir Frederick Treves in 1906 considered it "as pretty a village as any in Dorset".

[6] The parish church of St Mary the Virgin has Norman origins but has been altered and added to over the centuries.

[7] The Very Rev Hedley Robert Burrows (1887–1983), who later became Archdeacon of Winchester and then Dean of Hereford, was incumbent at Stoke Abbott for a time.

In the UK national parliament, Stoke Abbott is within the West Dorset parliamentary constituency.

After 2019 structural changes to local government in England, Stoke Abbott is part of the Marshwood Vale ward which elects 1 member to Dorset Council.