A MEMORIAL garden has been reopened after being redesigned to mark the 70th anniversary of the Great Flood of 1953.

The garden has been tended by volunteers since it became home to the Harwich Flood Memorial – an armillary sphere sundial containing the names of the people from Harwich who died the night of January 31 and morning of February 1, 1953.

Harwich Town Council worked with Tendring Council, Harwich Haven Authority and the Harwich Society on the £41,000 project.

Harwich Mayor Ivan Henderson, said: “It’s been great seeing the work take shape at the garden.

“The sphere marks a tragic part of Harwich’s history, which caused devastation to the town, and deserves to be placed in a garden suitable to honour the lives lost that night.

“The memorial is now the centrepiece of the garden, with benches, information boards, lighting, new plantings, and decorative paving with the names of the victims carved into the stones.”

The rededication of the memorial and official opening of the garden on Wednesday – the 70th anniversary of the flood - relatives of victims and survivors joined town officials, funders, and members of the public for a ceremony at St Nicholas Church.

A reception followed in the 1912 Centre, where there was an an exhibition presented by Harwich Town Council’s volunteer archivists, Ray Plummer and Anne Kemp-Luck.