Well dressing is a custom practised in rural England in which wells, springs or other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with the Peak District of Derbyshire in the English Midlands.[1]
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History
The origins of the tradition are alternatively said to lie in pagan tradition[1] or in giving thanks for the purity of the water drawn from certain wells during the period of the Black Death. It is often said to have originated in Tissington, Derbyshire in 1349,[2] though other claims can be made for Eyam and Stoney Middleton. Whatever its origins it was historically a custom exclusive in England to the Peak District of Derbyshire.
With the arrival of piped water the tradition was adapted so that not only wells but also taps were decorated although the resulting creations were still advertised as well dressings.[3]
The custom almost died out by the early years of the 20th century but it was revived in the 1920s and 1930s largely through the efforts of Tideswell school headmaster Oliver Shimwell. The custom has since spread outside its traditional heartland to numerous villages and small towns in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, Cheshire,[4] and even as far afield as Much Wenlock in Shropshire. Another boost to the tradition was the Festival of Britain. In villages like Wormhill where the custom appears to have stopped in the late 18th Century, it was started up again as part of the Festival of Britain and has continues nearly every year since.
In recent years the custom has been observed in the spring-water town of Malvern where the many wells are dressed at the time of the May Day celebrations. In 2009 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, who brought his daughter Anne Darwin to Malvern to bathe in the waters and who is buried in the Great Malvern Priory, each well was dressed with a Charles Darwin theme.[5]
Process
Wooden frames are constructed and covered with clay, mixed with water and salt. A design is sketched on paper, often of a religious theme, and this is traced onto the clay. The picture is then filled in with natural materials, predominantly flower petals and mosses, but also beans, seeds and small cones. Wirksworth and Barlow are two of the very few dressings where the strict use of only natural materials is still observed.
Each group uses its own technique, with some areas mandating that only natural materials be used while others feel free to use modern materials to simplify production.
See also
References
- ^ a b Well Dressing History, Buxton & Derbyshire Peakdistrict, accessed August 2009
- ^ Well Dressing, Historic-UK, accessed August 2009
- ^ a b 1860s picture, PictureThePast, accessed August 2009
- ^ Well dressing in Sutton, Cheshire
- ^ Wells and Dressings, Malvern Spa Association]
- www.welldressing.com Well dressing WS (updated with a diary of well dressings each year)
- Guide to the production of a well dressing
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Well dressing |
- Official website of the Buxton Wells Dressing Festival
- Short history of well dressing
- Tissington Hall's guide to producing welldressings
- Well dressings in Wirksworth Derbyshire
- Community site for Wirksworth Derbyshire
- Well Dressings in Barlow, Derbyshire. Dressed year on year for at least 150 years
- A history of well dressing in Wormhill
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