Journal of Geomancy vol. 1 no. 4, July 1977

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COMMENT: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MALTWOOD MONEY?

In geomantic circles, the ‘Maltwood Money’ is often talked about as a semi-mythological bequest on a par with the Loch Ness Monster.  Some people claim to have seen it, but those who matter never do. 

Katharine Maltwood, the discoverer of the Glastonbury (or ‘Somerset’) Zodiac, was a sculptor and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  She died on 29th July 1961 and left £42 000 to the Society in her will.  On her husband’s death in June 1967 the RSA accordingly received £42 004.  However, the Maltwood Fund was not set up for 2½ years, during which time the money lay idle.  Applications for grants were first invited in the RSA’s Journal for February 1970, the closing date being the 28th of that month “in order that the grants may be awarded in time to be of service to schemes planned for the summer vacation”.  Since then, annual awards, usually totalling £1 000, have been awarded by a committee of professional archaeologists.  We estimate that the income from the capital may be four times this amount annually. 

The present committee is:–

A. Llewellyn Smith (Chairperson)
Glyn Daniel (Disney Professor of Archaeology, Cambridge Univ.)
W.F. Grimes (ex-Professor of Archaeology, London University)
L.A. Haldane (Somerset Archaeological and Nat. Hist. Soc.)
D.B. Harden (ex-Director, London Museum)
C.A. Ralegh Radford (Society of Antiquaries AND British Association for the Advancement of Science)

One of these committee members, it may be noted, is Glyn Daniel.  In an ‘Antiquity’ editorial (Vol. 47, p. 4, March 1973), he attacked ‘Mysterious Britain’ by Janet and Colin Bord.  The following is an extract:

“But for the rest of it, the book is a taradiddle of rubbish and nonsense: everything that constitutes the lunatic fringe of archaeology is here – stone circles, leys, rites of spring, mazes and labyrinths, U.F.O’s, King Arthur, the Holy Grail, hill figures, and of course Katherine Maltwood and the figures of the Zodiac in the countryside around Glastonbury” (our emphasis). 

Various researchers into terrestrial zodiacs, including the I.G.R. and its members as private individuals, have applied for grants from the Maltwood Fund.  This year, I.G.R. received a letter, appended to a duplicated list of recipients of the money.  I.G.R. was not among the recipients, and there was no explanation why. 

At this point it is necessary to look at Katharine Maltwood’s will.  The relevant passage is as follows:

“All the rest of my estate, subject to the life interest of my husband … I direct my trustees to transfer or pay to the Royal Society of Arts … for the furtherance of their work as the Council may decide.  As I have spent many years in studying the Somerset Zodiac … I should like, but this wish should not be interpreted as a direction, that the funds should be used for the encouragement of antiquarian research in Somerset, England” (our emphases)

We underline ‘for the furtherance of their (i.e. the RSA’s) work’.  At the time of the will (1961), the RSA was not engaged in archaeological {82} research and there were no indications that it ever would be.  Furthermore, Maltwood stipulated “antiquarian” and not “archaeological” research.  In fact, the money has been given consistently for archaeological research carried out by, among others, the University of Liverpool, the University of Cambridge, the University of Southampton and the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey.  £8225 has been doled out to date. 

Maltwood wrote a number of books on the Glastonbury Zodiac, all of which are now out of print.  Her money is being spent by academic archaeologists who openly deride her work, whilst those dedicated to preserving and furthering her researches receive not a penny.