| Manningtree | |
|---|---|
 The River Stour at Manningtree | |
  Manningtree Location withinEssex | |
| Population | 874 (Parish, 2021)[1] 1,761 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| OS grid reference | TM105317 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| 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 | |
| 51°56′39″N1°03′41″E / 51.9443°N 1.0614°E /51.9443; 1.0614 | |
Manningtree is atown andcivil parish in theTendring district ofEssex, England. It lies on theRiver Stour and forms part of theSuffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[3] At the2021 census the parish had a population of 874 and the built up area (which extends into the neighbouring parishes ofLawford andMistley) had a population of 1,761.
The name Manningtree is thought to derive from 'many trees'.[4]The town grew around thewool 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.[4] Manningtree is known as the centre of the activities ofMatthew 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.[4]
Many of the buildings in the centre of the town have Georgian facades which obscure their earlier origins. Notable buildings includeManningtree Library, which was originally built as 'a public hall for the purposes of corn exchange' and was later used around 1900 for public entertainment,[4] and theMethodist church located on South Street, completed in 1807.[5]
The Ascension, byJohn Constable, which now hangs inDedham church, was commissioned in 1821 for the altarpiece of the early seventeenth-century church on the High Street, demolished in 1967.[6]
There are three tiers of local government covering Manningtree, atparish (town),district, andcounty level: Manningtree Town Council,Tendring District Council, andEssex County Council. The town council meets at the Methodist Church Hall on South Street.[7]
Manningtree historically formed part of theancient parish of Mistley. Manningtree developed as a market town after it was granted amarket charter in 1238.[8] The town was administered for some purposes by aguild, giving it some of the characteristics of aborough, but borough status was never formalised and the guild had ceased operating by the early 19th century.[9][10]
A church dedicated to St Michael was built in the High Street in 1616.[11] It was initially achapel of ease to St Mary's Church at Mistley. Thechapelry of Manningtree was then administered separately from Mistley forcivil parish functions under thepoor laws, whilst remaining part of theecclesiastical parish of Mistley. Manningtree was subsequently also made a separate ecclesiastical parish from Mistley in 1840.[10] The area ceded from Mistley to the chapelry and later parish of Manningtree was very tightly drawn around the core of the town as it then was. The firstOrdnance Survey map to show detailed parish boundaries of this area, published in 1881, recorded that Manningtree parish only covered 22 acres (9 hectares).[12]
When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, Manningtree was given a parish council and included in theTendring Rural District. The rural district was replaced in 1974 by the larger Tendring District. The ecclesiastical parish of Manningtree was reunited with Mistley in 1967, but Manningtree remains a separate civil parish.[10] Following the reunion of the ecclesiastical parishes in 1967, St Michael's at Manningtree was demolished, and St Mary's at Mistley was renamed St Mary and St Michael.[13]
As part of the 1974 reforms, each parish council was given the right to declare its parish to be a town, allowing it to take the title of town council and give the chair of the council the title ofmayor.[14] Manningtree Parish Council exercised this right in 1998, becoming Manningtree Town Council. Since then it has claimed to be the smallest town by land area in England, although its population exceeds that ofFordwich inKent, which was also the smallest town by land area prior to 1998.[15][16]
In 2009, proposals were considered for merging Manningtree with Mistley and Lawford to form a single parish.[17] The merger was not pursued.
Manningtree is on Holbrook Bay, part of theRiver Stour in the north of Essex. It is the eastern edge ofDedham Vale.
Manningtree's built up area as defined by theOffice for National Statistics following the 2021 census extends beyond the parish boundary to the east to include part of Mistley parish, and also includes some eastern fringes of Lawford parish. A separate Lawford built up area is identified which immediately abuts the Manningtree built up area.[18] The Manningtree built up area had a population in 2021 of 1,761 and the adjacent Lawford built up area had a population of 4,579.[2]
Nearby villages includeDedham,Mistley,Lawford,Wrabness andBrantham.
Manningtree railway station is on theGreat Eastern Main Line and provides regular, direct services toLondon,Norwich andHarwich. The station is actually located in the parish of Lawford.
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC East andITV Anglia. Television signals are received from theSudbury TV transmitter.[19]
The town is served by bothBBC Essex andBBC Radio Suffolk. Other radio stations includingHeart East,Greatest Hits Radio Essex, andActual Radio.
Harwich and Manningtree Standard is the town's local newspaper which publishes on Fridays.[20]
Manningtree features inRonald Bassett's 1966 novelWitchfinder General and inA. K. Blakemore's 2021 novelThe Manningtree Witches.
In Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part I (Act 2 Scene 4), Falstaff is referred to as “that roasted Manningtree ox“.[21] This was marked in 2000 with a sculpture of an ox in the town centre.[22]
A. K. Blakemore's 2021 novel,The Manningtree Witches, is set in the town.[23] The novel won theDesmond Elliott Prize 2021, being described by the judges as "a stunning achievement."[24]
Manningtree istwinned withFrankenberg, Hesse, Germany.
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