William Walker (diver)
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William Walker MVO (1869-1918) was an English diver famous for shoring up the southern and eastern sides of Winchester Cathedral. In his time, William Walker was the most experienced diver of Siebe Gorman Ltd. Working in water up to a depth of 6 m between 1906-1911, he shored up the Cathedral using more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks and 900,000 bricks.
Prior to his work, the Cathedral had been in imminent danger of collapse as it slowly sank 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 the foundation walls some 235 pits were dug out along the southern and eastern sides of the building, each about 6 metres deep. Walker went down and shored up the walls by putting concrete underneath them. He had to work six hours a day in complete darkness as the water contained floating sediment and was impenetrable to light.
After Walker finished his work, the groundwater was pumped out and the concrete Walker had put into place bore the foundation walls. Then conventional bricklayers were then able to do their work the usual way and restore the damaged walls.
For his effort Walker was honoured with the title Member of the Royal Victorian Order. He and his wife died during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
