Pioneering South Downs archaeologist John Henry Pull honoured with blue plaque at Worthing Museum
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00:00 Each blue plaque is very, very special and as one goes along the process to get to today,
00:07 a lot of research is done and the personality and character of the person shines through
00:15 and it certainly has in this case. I've learned that not only was John Paul a very accomplished
00:23 parameter archaeologist who did some extensive work at Black Patch Hill, Finden and also
00:30 at Cysprey, but the character of the man shone through in that he wanted to spread the word
00:37 about archaeology. He wasn't from the academic world, he'd been in World War I as a soldier
00:42 and had done a lot of survey work, which is where a lot of his technical knowledge had
00:47 come from. So I think it's wonderful to know that he also encouraged many young people
00:54 to get involved in the field of archaeology and he worked for 40 years excavating on Worthing's
01:02 wonderful downland. What makes this a very special occasion also is that we are in Worthing
01:09 Museum, really a jewel in the crown of Worthing and there is a permanent exhibition here for
01:16 John Paul's work. I am of course aware of the tragic circumstances of John's death and
01:23 that's something that we can't ever forget, but I hope today will be a celebration of
01:30 his life, of his work and of his legacy and I think that's what we need to focus on.
01:38 I first heard about John Henry Paul in the early 1990s whilst conducting research into
01:44 the Neolithic flip lines of Worthing, namely Harrow Hill, Black Patch, Churchill and Cyspru.
01:49 Finding 19th century excavation reports for a lot of those sites was relatively easy,
01:55 but frustratingly at the time I couldn't find anything on the mid-20th century work
02:00 conducted up there. Several eminent archaeologists told me to stop wasting my time as the excavations
02:06 were unpublished and horror of horrors had not been conducted by professionals. Undeterred,
02:12 I then contacted then curator of Worthing Museum, Dr Sally White, who invited me to
02:17 see the excavation archive and what I found there was a revelation, a 30-year treasure
02:22 trove detailing the investigation between 1922 and 1956 of 21 mine shafts, 6 quarry
02:30 pits, 22 flint mounds, working areas, burials, there were whole plans of mining areas, detailed
02:37 drawings of subterranean workspaces, pits, ditches and post holes, illustrations of pottery,
02:43 antler picks and flint tools. There were site notebooks, handwritten texts, specialist
02:48 reports, typescripts, photographs, reports on environmental data and the finds themselves
02:54 all marked with the same distinctive monogram of the project director, J.H.P. John Henry
03:00 Paul. Paul was very much a modern archaeologist. At the time he started work on the South Downs
03:06 just after the First War, archaeology was still the preserve of the wealthy, the landed
03:11 gentry and the clergy. It was an elite hobby for those with money and with time on their
03:15 hands and Paul was very much a working class enthusiast with no formal training in archaeology
03:21 but with a great love of the past. He joined the army in 1916 straight after leaving school
03:27 and at the end of the war became a gramophone salesman in Worthing. Exploration with family
03:33 and friends on the South Downs was an escape from reality and a help in recovering from
03:38 the trauma of war. Today archaeology is successfully deployed as a form of recuperation and wellbeing
03:44 for ex-service personnel through MOD organisations like Operation Nightingale. Paul of course
03:50 successfully used archaeology for mental health and physical wellbeing a whole century before.
03:56 His team of workers, at a time when archaeology was the preserve of wealthy men, comprised
04:00 men and women, young and old, of all classes and backgrounds. Photographs of the time shows
04:05 everyone mucking in together. John Poole was an exceptional artist, surveyor and draftsman,
04:11 who, before there was such a thing as university training programmes in archaeological skills,
04:16 established lecture groups and practical sessions for the people of Worthing, imparting his
04:20 knowledge to as wide an audience as possible. Archaeology was not a career in the 1920s,
04:26 there were no archaeological units or commercial organisations. John worked for the Post Office,
04:31 an outdoor profession which helped his gas-damaged lungs and which gave him time to pursue archaeological
04:36 hobbies. He was one of the first of a new breed of amateur archaeologists, a group who
04:41 made such a mark on the subject, not just helping to develop it as a respected profession
04:45 with a defined skill set, but also democratising it, opening up the study of the past to everyone,
04:51 irrespective of age or background. He was a true pioneer and a trailblazer, and I'm
04:57 so pleased to see that he's being recognised and commemorated with this plaque in his hometown
05:01 of Worthing.
05:02 I'm delighted to be here today to share the Parliamentary Archaeology Group, and I want
05:08 to congratulate the Worthing Society, because the Worthing Society is particularly good
05:13 at identifying and commemorating and throwing a spotlight on local unsung heroes. And that's
05:22 what John Henry Paul was. You've heard from Miles, and Miles was responsible for publishing
05:30 the work 20 years ago now, I think, that had gone unread since John Paul's untimely and
05:39 violent death back in 1960, so it's really down to Miles that that voice and all the
05:45 work that he did is now given the oxygen of this feed today. But he was shunned by the
05:52 establishment, and there was a rather unpleasant theme that went through many amateur archaeologists
06:01 because they didn't have great academic qualifications, and they were not taken seriously. And yet
06:08 some of those amateur archaeologists have been responsible for some of our greatest
06:12 finds. He championed archaeology for not the masses, but for people who don't have a great
06:19 academic background, and certainly some of the pictures from the dig at Findon showed
06:25 children and others in the trenches and helping out and being part of that local excavation.
06:33 We're extremely pleased that the blue plaque is sited at the Museum. The blue plaque acknowledges
06:39 and recognises my grandfather's achievements. Sadly I never got to know him as I was only
06:44 two years old when he died. It is clear from everything that I've read and been told about
06:49 my grandfather that he was a very special man. I'm proud to say that not only did he
06:54 love sharing his knowledge and interests, but he always acknowledged the part fellow
06:59 volunteers contributed to the discoveries made. The list is not exclusive, but Cyril
07:05 Sainsbury, Barclay Wills, Arthur Boyce all played a significant part. It is a great honour
07:13 to have Miles here today. Miles' discovery of the excavation archive held in the Museum
07:19 in 1991, with the assistance of the curator at the time, Dr Sally White, was an exciting
07:25 time. Miles' subsequent publication of his book, John Colm and the Neolithic Flint Mines
07:31 of Sussex, has not only been important from an archaeological perspective, but on a personal
07:37 level for the family. It also led on to the time team production of Sussex Ups and Downs.
07:44 My thanks must go to James Sainsbury, archaeology curator at the Museum, who sadly can't be
07:49 here today. James has done so much to bring what my grandfather achieved to a wider audience
07:56 through the exhibition held in 2021 and his talks and his works. I'd also like to thank
08:03 the Working Archaeological Society, continuing to hold the annual John Paul Memorial Lecture,
08:10 and to the members of the Society who are helping James catalogue all the archive.
08:17 [Applause]