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“An honestly intriguing phenomenon”: Derbyshire well dressings

I spent a few days in Derbyshire recently, and took the time to see an honestly intriguing phenomenon: a well dressing.

These unusual creations take a lot of planning and a lot of work for a community to create, and they only last a matter of days. But they are beautiful and skilled and a celebration of the natural world.

Seeing well dressings is also a great excuse to travel around Derbyshire to a place you’ve never been (and would probably never otherwise go to) to see more of the stunning countryside that part of the world has to offer.

So what is a well dressing?

A well dressing is a work of art, first and foremost. It is made entirely out of natural materials, in particular petals and seeds, but also wool, lichens, moss and anything else that suits the task.

These natural materials are pressed into clay contained in a wooden frame.

Well dressings are on display between May and September throughout different Derbyshire villages and towns. But you have to plan, because they tend to last – at most – a week, so the timings of the well dressings are spread out across the summer.

I visited two, but according to welldressing.com, there are 26 to see in total this year.

Crich well dressing

The first well dressing I saw was in a sweet village called Crich, where the well dressing was spread over four different boards, each created by a different group of people. These included Crich Junior School, who had made a vibrant volcano, and Crich Carr CofE Primary, who had made a colourful church behind some glorious poppies.

It was a stunning display and such a treat to see the attention to detail, even in the lettering at the top of the artworks.

Wadshelf well dressing

Next, I went to a tiny, picturesque village called Wadshelf, where their “In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous” Aristotle artwork took my breath away.

Initially, the colours alone and the clarity of the lettering caught my attention. Then, when I looked more closely and spotted the wren, the swift, the flowers, I could only imagine how anybody can create such beauty out of petals and leaves.

Thankfully, and as happens sometimes in small villages, of the three local women I talked to, all had worked on the well dressing. One had designed it, the other two had helped to create it. I   was there as two South African women came to see the phenomenon, too.

One of the local women told me about the history of well dressings: as a Pagan tradition, well dressings were created (and placed by wells, hence their names) to please the gods, so that they would send more water the following year.

The history of well dressings

It’s not actually completely clear that a Pagan custom is the origin story of the well dressing in Derbyshire, but it is an appealing and plausible theory. This tradition has, inevitably, to some degree been co-opted by some churches that have adopted the practice as a celebration of the water supply.

Historic UK reports the following on the history of Derbyshire well dressings:

“If the practice of well dressing dates back to the Celts, then perhaps the remoteness of the Derbyshire dales prevented the succeeding Roman, Saxon, Danish and Norman invaders from imposing their customs on the local people.

“The early Christians were not happy with the custom of dressing wells – they considered it water worship and promptly put an end to it!

“But the tradition refused to die. Tissington was the first village to re-introduce well dressing in 1349, after the village managed to escape a terrible outbreak of the Black Death that swept through England at this time. Many villages began to dress the new water taps when piped water first came to the villages.”

Whatever their true origins, Derbyshire well dressings are a curious and fascinating regional custom that are worth supporting if you are close to the area. Communities work together and put a lot of work into something so ephemeral, and then let it degrade in the elements as people travel from far and wide to visit and appreciate it.

Then it’s gone, until the following year.

Where to see well dressings

The Visit Peak District & Derbyshire website contains up-to-date information about where you can find well dressings across Derbyshire and the Peaks.

While the well dressings in the larger towns are always special, I do recommend visiting at least one in an out-of-the-way village as well. It supports their efforts and means you get to experience something truly unique and special.

Images: Philippa Willitts