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Note: The book "Civil Engineering Heritage" by R. A. Otter is dedicated to Alan Allnutt because he was the first editor of this book. See Media attachment called aallnutt.
From the July 1989 issue of the newsletter of the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society: WESTERN AREA We were saddened by the death of Alan Allnutt on 20th May, shortly following that of his wife Joyce and a week after his 80th birthday. His wide-ranging activities for the Society, the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum and in the wider field of lA will be greatly missed. The funeral service at Chichester Crematorium was attended by a number of members, among a congregation which filled the chapel. It was conducted by the minister of his church who spoke eloquently and knowingly of him.
Coultershaw Pump and Poyntz Bridge stand as tangible evidence of his untiring efforts in the Western Area, of which he was secretary for many years. When well in his 70s he thought nothing of scampering over the roof at Coultershaw fixing tile battens and less than two years ago spent most of the winter scraping the roof trusses.
We extend our sincere sympathy to Martin and Monica, his son and daughter-in-law.
From the same newsletter: OBITUARY - A.G. ALLNUTT Alan Allnutt, who died on 20th May after a short illness, was one of the most hard working and enthusiastic members of the SIAS. A fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers, he was already interested in Industrial Archaeology having worked for some time on the Institute's record of early structures of historical interest. On retiring from a responsible position at Portsmouth Dockyard he joined the SIAS in early 1974 and shortly afterwards accepted the position of West Sussex Secretary, a post which he reluctantly resigned in the autumn of 1981, though he remained on the Committee until the end of 1985. He became interested in restoration work and in October 1975 he organized a working party at Coultershaw Mill to assess the possibility of restoring the pump to working order. The mill itself had long been demolished but a water-wheel driven pump remained in the basement which, installed in 1792, had pumped water up from the River Rother to supply Petworth House and town. A great deal of work was involved in the restoration and it was fortunate that Alan was a good mechanical engineer as well, with his own workshop. The pump was restored to working order, supplying a small fountain outside, and an official opening was held on 4th July 1980. Subsequently a 100 year old barn from Goodwood was erected over the pump to house an exhibition and display, and opened to the public in the summer of 1982.
At the end of 1982 Alan started a project to restore and re-position Poyntz Bridge, an old swing bridge over the Chichester Canal. This will probably be operative by the end of this year and it is a tragedy that he did not live to see his project completed.
As well as giving advice on various projects Alan had many other interests which he researched and contributed a number of articles on these to the Newsletter. These included seaside piers, the structure of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, early aviation efforts by Weiss at Amberley, various agricultural engineering projects in Sussex and C.E. Jessop's work on railways and harbours in Sussex from I793 to 1820.
Alan was a man of very wide interests and abilities; he worked tremendously for the SIAS and for the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum, of which he was a patron. His death will be a great loss to the many projects in which he was interested and to all his many friends in Sussex. JOHN HASELFOOT
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