Manningtree

Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".

Manningtree
The River Stour at Manningtree
Manningtree Location within Essex
Population	911 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid reference	TM105317
District	Tendring
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANNINGTREE
Postcode district	CO11
Dialling code	01206
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Harwich and North Essex

Manningtree is a claimant for the title of smallest town in England.

Smallest town

Manningtree has traditionally claimed to be the smallest town in England, and in 2007 mayor Lee Lay-Flurrie said that this had been confirmed to her by the Census Customer Services, with 700 people in 20 hectares[2] (using the high tide mark). However both this figure and the 2011 census population for the civil parish of 900 is much higher than the 351 population of Fordwich in Kent.[3] However the settlement of Manningtree has a population of 5696.[4] In April 2009 it was proposed that Manningtree should merge with Mistley and Lawford to form a single parish, losing its separate identity as a town.[5] As of 2018 such a merger has not occurred and the town council currently claims to be the smallest by area.

History

Manningtree Library

The name Manningtree is thought to derive from 'many trees'.[6] The town grew around the wool trade from the 15th century until its decline in the 18th century and also had a thriving shipping trade in corn, timber and coal until this declined with the coming of the railway.[6] Manningtree is known as the centre of the activities of Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General, who claimed to have overheard local women discussing their meetings with the devil in 1644 with his accusations leading to their execution as witches.[6]

Many of the buildings in the centre of the town have Georgian facades which obscure their earlier origins. Notable buildings include the town's library, which was originally built as 'a public hall for the purposes of corn exchange' and was later used around 1900 for public entertainment,[6] and the oldest Methodist church in Essex, located on South Street.

The Ascension, by John Constable, which now hangs in Dedham church, was commissioned in 1821 for the altarpiece of the early seventeenth century church on the High Street, demolished in 1967.

Governance

Manningtree is part of the electoral ward called Manningtree, Mistley, Litte Bentley and Tendring. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,603.[7]

Geography

River Stour near Manningtree

Manningtree is on Holbrook Bay, part of the River Stour in the north of Essex. It is the eastern edge of Dedham Vale.

Nearby villages include Dedham, Mistley, Lawford, Wrabness and Brantham.

Manningtree railway station provides a direct train link to London, Norwich and Harwich.

In fiction

Manningtree features in Ronald Bassett's 1966 novel Witchfinder General.

Notable people

• Margaret Thatcher lived in Manningtree, and worked for BX Plastics[8]
• Matthew Hopkins, the self-styled Witch-Finder General, lived in Manningtree

Manningtree Station

Twin town

Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany

References

1. "Town population 2011". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
2. "Essex: Town is happy to be small wonder". Echo Newspapers. 7 November 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
3. "Area: Fordwich CP (Parish)". National Statistics. 28 April 2004. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
4. "Manningtree Built-up area". NOMIS. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
5. Collitt, Andrea (17 April 2009). "Manningtree: Threat to Mayor". Harwich and Manningtree Standard. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011.
6. Peers, Deborah (February 2009). "Once upon a time in... Manningtree". Essex Life. Archant Life. p. 52.
7. "Manningtree,Mistrey, Little Bemtley and Tendring ward population 2011". Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
8. Lewis, Russell (1975). Margaret Thatcher: a personal and political biography. Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 16. ISBN 0-7100-8283-5.

External links

• Manningtree Town Council website