Last summer, Curo chose Mulberry Park as the name for its development of 700 homes, community facilities and open spaces on the southern slopes of the city.
The name, suggested by local resident Ken Cookes, was inspired by the Mulberry Harbours, temporary harbours designed in Bath by the Admiralty, which were used for the D-Day landings and which many view as one of the greatest engineering achievements of World War II.
Now local historians from Combe Down Heritage Society are investigating the story behind the name, supported by a grant from Curo’s Community Chest.
It is well known that the Admiralty’s Civil Engineer-in-Chief worked on the design of the Mulberry Harbours while based at Bath’s Kingswood School.
Records show that staff at the MOD Foxhill site (built in 1942) also provided finance and administrative support for this massive engineering feat.
The heritage team is now looking into how the Mulberry Harbour’s components were designed, built and moved to the Normandy coast, how they were assembled and how Mulberry contributed to the success of the invasion.
The Society will share their findings with local people through a presentation, leaflet and exhibition later this year.
Research team members are:
- Martin Coulson, Chair of Combe Down Heritage Society and a former Royal Engineer,
- David Robertson, a Chartered Engineer with firsthand experience of harbour construction,
- Garrod Musto, Maths teacher at Kingswood School who has developed a schools project based on the Mulberry Harbours,
- Ricky Anderson, a Curo customer and ex-RAMC soldier who is looking into the use of the harbour for medical evacuation from the battlefield of Normandy.
The team would like to hear from anyone with memories or materials relating to the Mulberry Harbours.
If you have information to share, please contact Martin Coulson at the Combe Down Heritage Society via:
T: 07761 736239
