Manningtree Town
Home > Manningtree
Manningtree is situated 8 miles east of Colchester, Essex, and is pleasantly situated on the south side of the river Stour, at the point where that river begins to widen into a broad estuary. It is currently proud to be England's smallest recorded town, and is twinned with the German town 'Frankenberg'.
Manningtree has elegant buildings which have Georgian facades hiding earlier origins, as can be seen in the pictures below.
There was an extensive trade in corn, coal, timber and fish. There also was an extensive malting business, which has now disappeared in Manningtree. For two centuries, Manningtree (and Mistley) were important brewing centres and ports.
The Manningtree Station Walk in the Stour Valley is ideal for anyone who likes to travel to the countryside by train, the route is easily accessible from Manningtree Station. The walk explores the lower reaches of the River Stour on both the Essex and Suffolk sides of the river and includes a visit to Flatford Mill, where John Constable's father was the miller. This surrounding countryside was in a number of Constable's paintings.
Manningtree, with its twin town of Mistley, is an improving market town