The Wisdom of Solomon - Hope Well Dressing 2023

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 1 Jul 2023

Well dressing outside St Peter's Church. Well dressing, also known as well flowering, is a tradition practised in some parts of rural England in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with the Peak District of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The custom had almost died out in the 1950s, but since then it has been revived, primarily for the tourist industry, with a succession of different villages dressing their wells between the end of May and early September. Some sources attribute the practice to the period of the Black Death in 1348-9 when probably a third of the population of England died of the disease, but some villages such as Tissington were untouched. The local people attributed this to their clean water supply and gave thanks by 'dressing' the village wells. However, it seems probable that the practice goes back much further, probably to pagan times. The construction of the well dressings is a skilful art in which frequently almost the whole population of the village is involved. Wet clay is spread to a depth of a couple of inches across a wooden backing board, a design is 'pricked out' using a paper pattern and then petals and other items are placed in the areas laid out by the design. After the well dressing is erected next to the well it is blessed in a short outdoor service. Since many of the villages have several wells, there will then be a procession around the village to bless each one in turn. More information https://web.archive.org/web/20211206181431/http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/features/welldress.php (Peak District Information (archived December 2021)).

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