A SCHOOL in Dorset will soon boast a bronze bust of its most famous alumni, Alan Turing, created by acclaimed sculptor David Williams-Ellis.

Sherborne resident Kathryn Ballisat, inspired by Turing’s story and his connection to the town, has commissioned David Williams-Ellis, most recently known for his sculpture to commemorate the D-Day Landings in Normandy, to create a bust of Turing.

Once cast in bronze, the bust will be unveiled in July by Turing’s nephew and former pupil of Sherborne School, Sir John Dermot Turing and will stand on a plinth in the school grounds.

Headmaster of Sherborne School Dr Dominic Luckett said: “Alan Turing was one of the most remarkable and gifted scientists of the twentieth century.

“His crucial work as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park played a significant part in the defeat of Nazi tyranny and his contribution to the subsequent development of computing helped to shape the modern world.

“Although sadly under-appreciated in his lifetime, his legacy is now better understood and more properly celebrated around the world.”

Weeks ago, more than 250 items belonging to Alan Turing, including his doctoral degree and OBE medal, were recovered in Colorado, 35 years after they were taken from his former secondary school.

Alan Turing attended Sherborne School, one of five full boarding schools for boy 13 to 18 in the UK, from 1926 to 1931. In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, where he was part of the team that deciphered the German Enigma machine.

Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his war service, Turing gave the earliest known lecture to mention computer intelligence.

But he was condemned by the government for being gay – being prosecuted in 1952 for homosexuality and accepting chemical castration treatment as an alternative to a prison term.

He died of cyanide poisoning in 1954, just days before his 42nd birthday. The official cause of death at inquest was recorded as suicide.

In 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British Government for the way Turing, a man widely credited as helping turn the tide of war in the Allies favour, was treated.

Four years later the Queen granted Turing a posthumous pardon.