Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has significantly increased in recent years due to the infilling of former school and company playing fields.

[1] Moreover, the population of Stoke Bishop varies throughout the year because of the influx of students during term time to the large campus of Bristol University halls of residence situated on the edge of The Downs.

There was a Roman harbour, Portus Abonae (port on the Avon), at the then deeper and much more extensive tidal mouth of the River Trym.

In the course of the 19th century land on both Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park estates was increasingly sold off to wealthy Bristolians to construct large villas in substantial grounds.

The Holmes in Stoke Park Road, a large 'Arts and Crafts' style house built in 1879, was used as a base for US Army generals during the planning of the 1944 Normandy landings.

[14] In the 1930s Jared and Jethro Stride built "one-off luxury homes on plots they had bought" in Sneyd Park and Stoke Bishop.

It has been proposed to register the Stoke Lodge grounds as a village green, which would prevent access being restricted, and the fences have since been removed.

[21][22][23] Stoke Bishop electoral ward created in 1980,[26] includes Sneyd Park, much of The Downs and the Avon Gorge, and since 2016 most of Sea Mills.

[27] The ward is represented by two members on Bristol City Council, which as of 2024[update] are John Goulandris and Henry Michallat, both Conservatives.