John Gilbert Hurst

John Gilbert Hurst (15 August 1927 – 29 April 2003) was a British archaeologist and pioneer of the study of medieval archaeology.

Biography John Hurst was born on 15 August 1927 at Cambridge. He was educated at Harrow and then, following National Service in the Intelligence Corps in Palestine, went up to Trinity College, Cambridge to read archaeology. Although his studies at Cambridge were exclusively concerned with prehistory, his interests already lay in the medieval period, and while still an undergraduate he co-directed the excavation of Northolt Manor.

Hurst was also a leading authority on medieval pottery. from which sprang the Society for Medieval Archaeology founded in 1957, in which he filled almost every office, including President; he then led the formation of the Post-Medieval Ceramic Research Group which turned itself into the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, of which he also became president. They had two daughters Francesca and Tamara. Gillian died in 1971.