Sir William Golding (1911 – 1993)

In March 2005, Brigadier Alastair Clark unveiled a plaque to William Golding, winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature, outside the entrance to Bishop Wordsworth’s School in The Close. He wrote his first four novels, including “Lord of the flies”, while teaching at the school between 1945 and 1962; and his fifth novel, “The spire”, is inspired by the construction of Salisbury Cathedral’s crowning feature. Between 1958 and 1985 he lived at Bowerchalke, and his residence there is marked by a blue plaque on his former house. This was put up privately, rather than being a Civic Society plaque. He was knighted in 1988 and died five years later, at the age of 81.