Old Knobbley
the areas oldest resident...
Old Knobbley grows in an area of woodland on Furze Hills in Mistley. It is thought that he could be as much as 800 years old, but it is very difficult to tell. When a tree reaches that kind of age growth slows down considerably, to the point that time seems to stand still. He is however recognised as the oldest oak tree in England.
Old Knobbley was most definitely pollarded in it's youth. It has been ravaged by fire and at one point had a hornets nest amongst it's boughs.
It's hard to imagine the things he's lived through and seen so we thought a time line would help tell the story more. We've assumed a start date of 1200 A.D. but as we said it's hard to be certain. I know everytime I walk to meet him it's always a humbling experience and one that instils great respect for his endurance.
To find out more about Old K himself you can visit his web site at www.oldknobbley.com.
From humble beginnings...
| Year | Event |
| 1202 | The name Manningtree first recorded in text |
| 1215 | Magna Carter Signed |
| 1216 | Henry III Crowned |
| 1238 | Manningtree awarded Market Charter |
| 1249 | Roger Bacon wrote of explosives |
| 1272 | Edward I Crowned |
|
100 Years Old
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| 1300 | Hallmarks used on silver assayed for the first time |
| 1301 | First English Prince of Wales |
| 1307 | Edward II Crowned |
| 1327 | Edward III Crowned |
| 1348 | Black Death |
| 1362 | First work of literature written in English |
| 1377 | Richard II Crowned |
| 1381 | Peasants Revolt against Poll Tax |
| 1388 | Chaucers "Canterbury Tales" written |
| 1399 | Henry IV Crowned |
|
200 Years Old
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| 1413 | Henry V Crowned |
| 1422 | Henry VI Crowned |
| 1461 | Edward IV Crowned |
| 1476 | First printing press imported into Britain |
| 1483 | Edward V Crowned |
| 1483 | Richard III Crowned |
| 1485 | Henry VII Crowned |
|
300 Years Old
|
|
| 1508 | First book printed in Sotland |
| 1509 | Henry VIII Crowned |
| 1519 | Cocoa beans brought to Europe |
| 1524 | The use of Hops in brewing beer introduced |
| 1535 | First Bible in English printed in Germany |
| 1547 | Edward VI Crowned |
| 1533 | Jane Crowned - but not for long (9 days) |
| 1533 | Mary I Crowned |
| 1558 | Elizabeth I Crowned |
| 1564 | The lead pencil invented in England |
| 1576 | First Theatre in England opened in London |
| 1577 | Francis Drake embarked to travel the world |
| 1590 | First paper mill established in England |
| 1596 | Water Closets (Toilet) installed in queen's palace |
| pre 1597 | Shakespeare wrote of the "Manningtree Ox" in Henry IV Pt I |
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400 Years Old
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| 1603 | James I Crowned |
| 1605 | Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament discovered |
| 1616 | Manningtree Church re-built in the High Street - sadly lost in 1966 |
| 1621 | Slide rule invented |
| 1625 | Charles I Crowned |
| 1628 | William Harvey discovers how blood circulates |
| 1645 | Matthew Hopkins or "Witchfinder General" starts hunting from Mistley |
| 1647 | Matthew Hopkins publishes "The Discovery of Witches" |
| 1649 | Commonwealth period starts led by Oliver Cromwell |
| 1660 | Restoration of Charles II |
| 1665 | Plague hits London |
| 1666 | Great Fire of London |
| 1688 | William III and Mary II Crowned |
| 1696 | First insurance company in England founded |
| 1698 | First engine to harness steam constructed |
|
500 Years Old
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| 1701 | Jethro Tull invents first horse-drawn seed drill |
| 1702 | Anne Crowned |
| 1707 | Denis Papin constructed first steam boat |
| 1709 | Manningtree to Sudbury made navigable by river using 15 locks |
| 1709 | Coke powered blast furnaces used |
| 1714 | George I Crowned |
| 1727 | George II Crowned |
| 1728 | Richard Rigby builds first recorded Maltings in Mistley |
| 1730 | Experiments with crop fertilsation start |
| 1735 | Richard Rigby builds the church at Mistley |
| 1760 | George III Crowned |
| 1777 | Mistley Church redesigned by the architect Robert Adam |
| 1783 | First hot air balloon flight |
| 1786 | Experiments with gas lighting start |
|
600 Years Old
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| c1800 | T. Telford & J. MacAdam improve road construction |
| 1803 | New paper-making machine invented |
| 1805 | Efficiency of printing presses introcuced |
| 1814 | Steam power harnessed for printing presses |
| 1820 | George IV Crowned |
| 1822 | "The Ascension" by John Constable presented to Manningtree Church |
| 1823 | Charles Babbage devises a calculating machine |
| 1830 | William IV Crowned |
| 1837 | Victoria Crowned |
| 1840 | Adhesive postage stamps introduced |
| 1840 | Gasworks built in Manningtree |
| 1843 | Charles Goodyear invents vulcanisation of rubber |
| 1844 | Rigby estate in Mistley sold |
| 1846 | Manningtree Train Station opened - it's actually in Lawford though |
| 1846 | First use of Ether as an anaesthetic |
| 1854 | Branch line to Harwich from Manningtree opened |
| 1855 | "Reminiscences of Manningtree" published |
| 1859 | Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" published |
| 1860 | Cigarettes created |
| 1863 | Brooks Maltings in Mistley established |
| 1865 | Plastic invented |
| 1876 | First book on contraception published |
| 1877 | Thomas Edison invents the phonograph |
| 1886 | First linotype printing machine used |
| 1887 | "Xylonite" or plastic as we know it now is produced in Brantham |
| 1888 | Radio waves discovered |
| 1890's | Sigmund Freud develops his theories of psychiatry |
| 1895 | Moving pictures first shown |
| 1895 | X-Rays discovered |
| 1898 | Radium disovered by Pierre and Marie Curie |
|
700 Years Old
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| 1901 | Edward VII Crowned |
| 1901 | The vacuum cleaner invented |
| 1902 | Manningtree branch of St John Ambulance founded |
| 1904 | Steel railway bridge to the Cattawade built at Manningtree |
| 1908 | Waterworks Company open in Manningtree |
| 1910 | George V Crowned |
| 1919 | Horlock's shipyard built in Manningtree |
| 1927 | First talking picture made |
| 1933 | Antibiotics discovered |
| 1936 | Stour Sailing Club founded in Manningtree |
| 1937 | Modern computing starts |
| 1940 | Radar developed |
| 1947 | Mobile phone developed |
| 1950 | Credit Card invented |
| 1952 | Elizabeth II Crowned |
| 1953 | Manningtree and surrounding areas flood |
| 1953 | Structure of DNA discovered |
| 1954 | Safe Polio vaccine created |
| 1962 | Television mast erected in Mistley |
| 1965 | Abolition of the death penalty in Britain |
| 1967 | First portable electronic calculators made |
| 1968 | "Witchfinder" starring Vincent Price filmed around the area |
| 1969 | Birth of the Internet |
| 1970's | Manningtree undergoes major redevelopment |
| 1975 | Development of the Personal Computer |
| 1981 | Parish borders of Manningtree, Mistley and Lawford change |
| 1997 | Prince of Wales visits the Maltings conversion at Mistley |
|
800 Years Old
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...to ancient oak.
