A remarkable man:

150px-William_Walker_-_diver ‘William Walker (1869–1918) was an English diver famous for shoring up the southern and eastern sides of Winchester Cathedral…
…Before his work, the cathedral had been in imminent danger of collapse as it sank slowly into the ground, which consisted of peat. To enable bricklayers to build supporting walls, the groundwater level had to be lowered. Normally, the removal of the groundwater would have caused the collapse of the building. So, to give temporary support to the foundation walls, some 235 pits were dug along the southern and eastern sides of the building, each about six metres deep. Walker went down and shored up the walls by putting concrete underneath them. He worked six hours a day—in complete darkness, because the sediment suspended in the water was impenetrable to light…’

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4 Responses to A remarkable man:

  1. Mathew says:

    Here here. Wow. I just hope he was properly paid for his hard work.

  2. Larry Sheldon says:

    http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/history-treasures/famous-people/william-walker-the-diver-who-saved-the-cathedral/

    I have been there and I think he was treated like a hero, from all I have read.

    Seems like I had a book about him–I have no idea if it survived the Great Downsizing.

    • KG says:

      Thanks, Larry. I’m glad he got the treatment he deserved. :grin:
      I’ve been fascinated by cathedrals since reading “The Pillars of the Earth” by Follett.