The air in Furze Hill Woods is tinged with the sweet smell of the nearby maltings factory, a reminder of Mistley’s industrial past. Most of the woodland’s leaved inhabitants are around 70 years old, but among them stand icons of living history – ancient oaks, naturally sculpted over hundreds of years, distended and hollowed, each one more remarkable than the last.
One notable tree has stood here for 800 years, having taken anchor around the time King John signed the Charter of the Forest. Affectionately named Old Knobbley, thanks to its bulbous, lumpy appearance, its trunk is 9.5 metres wide (more than twice its height) and is topped by wizened branches.
