Plaque number 96 can be found at this location.
This plaque can be found on The Cathedral Hotel in Milford Street.
The O/S grid position is SU nnnnn East nnnnn North.
SALISBURY CIVIC SOCIETY
DOROTHY L. SAYERS
Godolphin School
1909-1911
wrote in her novel
"Whose Body?"
that Lord Peter Wimsey
lunched here.
The Cathedral Hotel
On Friday 25th March 2011 Dame Rosemary Spencer unveiled the above Blue Plaque at The Cathedral Hotel in honour of Dorothy L Sayers.
From 1909 Dorothy L Sayers was educated at the Godolphin School and in 1912 won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford.
In 1923 she published her first novel, “Whose Body?” which introduced Lord Peter Wimsey, her hero for 14 volumes of novels and short stories.
In a letter to her parents dated 14th March 1909 Dorothy wrote to say that her Aunt Gertrude had visited her and that they had met the Christys: "We had lunch with them at the Cathedral Hotel." The Cathedral Hotel, alias the Minster Hotel in Wimsey’s time was described in its brochure of 1993 as a listed historic building in which the Milford Bar dates back to 1737. It has recently undergone renovation.
Dorothy L Sayers in her novel “Whose Body?” describes how Lord Peter Wimsey lunched at the Cathedral Hotel (alias the Minster Hotel).
After the unveiling of the plaque which was attended by the Mayor of Salisbury, Lord Congleton, Sir Christopher & Lady Benson, the Leader of Salisbury City Council, the Chairman of the Dorothy L Sayers Society, the Headmistress of Godolphin School and English Heritage some 70 people stayed for a special lunch menu which was devised by the hotel with dishes that appear in some of her works.
The unveiling photograph here shows from left to right, the leader of Salisbury City Council: Susan Thorpe, the Mayor of Salisbury City Council: Brian Dalton, Salisbury Civic Society President: Dame Rosemary Spencer, the Chairman of the Dorothy L Sayers Society: Christopher Dean, the Salisbury Civic Society Chairman: Alastair Clark and Lord Congleton.
There is a six page article on Dorothy L Sayers at Godolphin school by the late Richard Durman in Issue nine 2009 of the Sarum Chronicle - The history of Salisbury and its District.
ISBN 1475-1844 ISBN 978-0-946418-79-4 available from the Cross Keys bookshop 01722 326131.
There is a reference to their past pupil Dorothy L Sayers on the Godolphin school website.
There is much information about Dorothy L Sayers on wikipedia.
You might also find the Dorothy L Sayers society website of great interest.
Click here to go back to Salisbury Plaques Home Page
Click here to go to the Salisbury Civic Society's Home Page.
Click here to check validation.