Editing Manningtree

{{short description|Town and civil parish in Essex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place 
|country =                 England
|official_name=            Manningtree
|static_image_name=        The Stour Estuary - geograph.org.uk - 14415.jpg
|static_image_caption=     The River Stour at Manningtree
|coordinates = {{coord|51.9443|1.0614|display=inline,title}}
|label_position = top
| population = 911
| population_ref = (2011 census)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126621&c=CO11+1BT&d=16&e=62&g=6426076&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1443178201656&enc=1|title=Town population 2011|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925203637/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126621&c=CO11+1BT&d=16&e=62&g=6426076&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1443178201656&enc=1|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 |shire_district=           [[Tendring District|Tendring]]
|shire_county =            [[Essex]]
|region=                   East of England
|constituency_westminster= [[Harwich and North Essex (UK Parliament constituency)|Harwich and North Essex]]
|post_town=                MANNINGTREE
|postcode_district=        CO11
|postcode_area=            CO
|dial_code=                01206
|os_grid_reference=        TM105317 
}}

'''Manningtree''' is a [[town]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Tendring District|Tendring]] district of [[Essex]], England, which lies on the [[River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour]]. It is part of the [[Suffolk Coast and Heaths]] Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-53308890 | title=Suffolk Coast and Heaths: England's first 'beauty extension' since 1991 | work=BBC News | date=7 July 2020 }}</ref>

==Smallest town claim==
Manningtree has traditionally claimed to be the smallest town in England, but its 2007 population of 700 people in 20 hectares<ref>{{cite web | url=http://archive.echo-news.co.uk/2007/11/7/262780.html | title=Essex: Town is happy to be small wonder | publisher=Echo Newspapers | date=7 November 2007 | access-date=2010-09-24}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> and the 2011 census population for the civil parish of 900 are much higher than the 351 population of [[Fordwich]], Kent.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=795410&c=Fordwich&d=16&e=15&g=457433&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1285290383900&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612140711/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=795410&c=Fordwich&d=16&e=15&g=457433&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1285290383900&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 June 2011 | publisher=National Statistics | title=Area: Fordwich CP (Parish) | date=28 April 2004 | access-date=2010-09-24}}</ref> However, it is believed to be the smallest town by area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.manningtreetowncouncil.gov.uk/manningtree|publisher=VCS Parish Council Websites|title=About Manningtree - Manningtree Town Council|accessdate=2024-01-13 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.harwichandmanningtreestandard.co.uk/news/localnews/4299842.Manningtree__Threat_to_Mayor/ |title=Manningtree: Threat to Mayor |date=17 April 2009 |first=Andrea |last=Collitt |journal=Harwich and Manningtree Standard | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004163753/http://www.harwichandmanningtreestandard.co.uk/news/localnews/4299842.Manningtree__Threat_to_Mayor/ |archive-date=4 October 2011 }}</ref> As of 2023 such a merger has not occurred.

==History==
[[File:Manningtree Library.JPG|thumb|left|[[Corn Exchange, Manningtree|Manningtree Library]]]]
The name Manningtree is thought to derive from 'many trees'.<ref name="Feb09">{{cite news|title=Once upon a time in... Manningtree|last=Peers|first=Deborah|date=February 2009|work=Essex Life|publisher=Archant Life|pages=52}}</ref>
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.<ref name="Feb09" /> 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.<ref name="Feb09" />

Many of the buildings in the centre of the town have Georgian facades which obscure their earlier origins. Notable buildings include [[Corn Exchange, Manningtree|Manningtree Library]], which was originally built as 'a public hall for the purposes of corn exchange' and was later used around 1900 for public entertainment,<ref name="Feb09" /> and the [[Methodist]] church located on South Street, completed in 1807.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Methodist Church|num=1240124|access-date=23 July 2023}}</ref>

''The Ascension'', by [[John Constable]], which now hangs in [[Dedham, Essex|Dedham]] church, was commissioned in 1821 for the altarpiece of the early seventeenth-century church on the High Street, demolished in 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dedham-and-ardleigh-parishes.org.uk/Articles/497050/The_Ascension.aspx|title=The Ascension By John Constable RA (1776–1837)|publisher=Dedham and Ardleigh Parishes|access-date=23 July 2023}}</ref>

==Governance==
Manningtree is part of the [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] called Lawford, Manningtree and Mistley.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/content/district-council-wards-and-boundaries|title=District Council wards and boundaries|accessdate=2025-01-15 }}</ref> The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,603.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/manningtree-mistley-little-bentley-and-tendring-e05004248#sthash.O93kjLlJ.dpbs|title=Manningtree,Mistrey, Little Bentley and Tendring ward population 2011|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926004550/http://www.ukcensusdata.com/manningtree-mistley-little-bentley-and-tendring-e05004248#sthash.O93kjLlJ.dpbs|archive-date=26 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:cmglee_Manningtree_River_Stour.jpg|thumb|left|River Stour near Manningtree]]
Manningtree is on Holbrook Bay, part of the [[River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour]] in the north of Essex. It is the eastern edge of [[Dedham Vale National Landscape|Dedham Vale]].

Nearby villages include [[Dedham, Essex|Dedham]], [[Mistley]], [[Lawford]], [[Wrabness]] and [[Brantham]].

==Transport==

[[File:Manningtree Station.jpg|thumb|[[Manningtree railway station]]]]

[[Manningtree railway station]] is on the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] and provides regular, direct services to [[Liverpool_Street_station|London]], [[Norwich_railway_station|Norwich]] and [[Harwich_Town_railway_station|Harwich]]. The station is actually located in the Parish of Lawford.

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC East]] and [[ITV Anglia]].  Television signals are received from the [[Sudbury transmitting station|Sudbury]] TV transmitter. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sudbury | title=Sudbury (Suffolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter | date=May 2004 }}</ref>

The town is served by both [[BBC Essex]] and [[BBC Radio Suffolk]]. Other radio stations including [[Heart East]], [[Dream 100|Greatest Hits Radio Essex]], and [[Actual Radio]].

Harwich and Manningtree Standard is the town's local newspaper which publishes on Fridays. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-eang/harwich-standard/|title=Harwich and Manningtree Standard|date=3 May 2014|website=British Papers|accessdate=3 November 2023}}</ref>

== In fiction ==
Manningtree features in [[Ronald Bassett]]'s 1966 novel ''[[Witchfinder General (novel)|Witchfinder General]]'' and in [[A. K. Blakemore]]'s 2021 novel ''The Manningtree Witches''.

In Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part I (Act 2 Scene 4), Flastaff is referred to as “that roasted Manningtree ox“.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Famous Quotes {{!}} Henry IV Part I {{!}} Royal Shakespeare Company|url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/henry-iv-part-i/about-the-play/famous-quotes|access-date=2021-11-17|website=www.rsc.org.uk}}</ref> This was marked in 2000 with a sculpture of an ox in the town centre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shakespeare's Manningtree to celebrate bard's anniversary|url=https://www.harwichandmanningtreestandard.co.uk/news/14351609.shakespeares-manningtree-to-celebrate-bards-anniversary/|access-date=2021-11-17|website=Harwich and Manningtree Standard|language=en}}</ref>

[[A. K. Blakemore]]'s 2021 novel, ''The Manningtree Witches'', is set in the town.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O’Donnell |first=Paraic |date=2021-03-12 |title=The Manningtree Witches by AK Blakemore review – a darkly witty debut |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/12/the-manningtree-witches-by-ak-blakemore-review-a-darkly-witty-debut |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> The novel won the [[Desmond Elliott Prize]] 2021, being described by the judges as "a stunning achievement."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKenna |first=Steph |title=The Desmond Elliott Prize 2021 |url=https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/dep-2021/ |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=National Centre for Writing}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Margaret Thatcher]] lived and worked in Manningtree and worked for [[BX Plastics]]<ref name="toryBook">{{Cite book|last=Lewis|first=Russell|title=Margaret Thatcher: a personal and political biography|pages=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ypg9AAAAIAAJ&q=margaret%20thatcher%20manningtree&pg=PA16|publisher=[[Routledge|Routledge and Kegan Paul]]|year=1975|isbn=0-7100-8283-5}}</ref>
*[[Matthew Hopkins]], the self-styled Witch-Finder General, lived in Manningtree
*[[Henry Patten]], the 2024 Gentlemen's Wimbledon doubles champion lived in Manningtree.

==Twin town==
Manningtree is [[sister city|twinned]] with [[Frankenberg, Hesse]], Germany.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.manningtreetowncouncil.gov.uk Manningtree Town Council website]

{{Essex}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Manningtree| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Essex]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Essex]]
[[Category:Tendring]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Essex]]