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All the United Kingdom England Tissington Derbyshire Well Dressing

Derbyshire Well Dressing

The tradition of using flowers to decorate wells is once again thriving in England.

Tissington, England

Added By
Alan Newman
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The 2010 dressing of Coffin Well in Tissington.   Mick Lobb/CC BY-SA 2.0
The 2010 dressing of Coffin Well in Tissington.   Mick Lobb/CC BY-SA 2.0
A decorated well in Great Longstone, 2017.   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
A close-up of Great Longstone’s 2017 offering showing how flower petals are used to create the picture.   Dr Alan P Newman / Atlas Obscura User
The Ashford in the Water well dressing celebrating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trade in slaves in the British Empire.   David M Goodwin/CC BY-SA 2.0
Another Ashford in the Water 2007 offering.   David M Goodwin/CC BY-SA 2.0
One of Tissington’s 2006 well dressings.   Dennis Thorley/CC BY-SA 2.0
Litton well dressing 2000   David Stowell
Litton well dressing 2014   Anne Burgess
Children’s well dressing, Ashford in the Water 2007   David M Goodwin
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About

Well dressing is an old custom which was once widespread throughout rural England. However, by the early 19th century, enthusiasm for the activity had run dry. It more or less died out everywhere except for the village of Tissington in Derbyshire. The colorful tradition has since been revived, with villages using it to allow residents to express their artistic talents, encourage community spirit, raise money, and attract tourists.

In the local usage of the term, a "well" is applied to both artificially dug wells and natural springs. Dressing the wells takes place in the summer. Traditionally, it was done by pressing flower petals onto a bed of wet clay, which transformed the well into a temporary mosaic bursting with natural colors. However, the plant-based material tends to wilt rather quickly, so the floral frills were removed after about a week. Modern-day well dressings incorporate a wider range of materials but flower petals still always dominate.

The origins of the tradition may trace back to pagan times. Some say the decorations were intended to please the gods that supplied water to the villages. Others suspect well dressing got its start a few millennia later, as a way for villagers to give thanks for surviving the Black Death.

The flower mosaics used to only depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments. In recent years the subjects have become much broader and are often humorous or contain a social message. Sometimes the artwork even serves as an act of remembrance.

Though well dressings happen in other parts of England, the most common occurrences are those that are either within Derbyshire or those that modeled their event off the county’s tradition.

Related Tags

Wells Flowers Art Villages History Plants Mosaics

Know Before You Go

While the pin on the map is at Tissington, the traditional home of the custom, during the summer there is usually a well dressing event happening somewhere within or close to the borders of the Peak District National Park.

Community Contributors

Added By

Dr Alan P Newman

Edited By

Steve 55

  • Steve 55

Published

July 27, 2017

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Sources
  • http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/history/welldressing.shtml
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_dressing
Derbyshire Well Dressing
1 The Green
Tissington, England
United Kingdom
53.066956, -1.738479
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