British Traditions
say the custom gained new life when Tissington’s wells continued to provide water throughout the great drought of 1615. Whatever the truth, the village claims the longest-documented history of well dressing in Britain. Elsewhere, the practice sprang up again after piped
water arrived in town – 1829 in Youlgrave and 1840 in Buxton, for instance. Often, when this was the case, taps and pumps became a focus of decoration, too. Over the years there have been interruptions to the
tradition, but today it continues as something that is all but unique to Derbyshire. Dates for each well dressing are frequently associated with the church calendar, with Tissington’s marking Ascension Day. “Families tend to stick with the same well through
generations – I’m involved with Hall Well”, Sir Richard says. “And we even have a children’s well, where children can learn dressing”. Some keep construction hidden behind closed doors;
others welcome visitors to watch – in Tissington, collages for Hall Well and Hands Well can be seen in progress. Wendy Greatorex, who has created designs for the latter for 25 years, explains how the process begins with wooden boards being plunged into the village pond to soak a week before dressing. Once retrieved, the saturated boards are fi lled with
locally dug clay, and then the paper design is laid on top. “We prick through the lines with a nail or skewer and use alder cones to create the outline in the clay, like dot-to-dot”, says Greatorex. Next comes intricate colouring in, called ‘petalling’ or
‘fl owering’ depending on the use of petals or whole fl owerheads pressed into the clay. Greatorex's team forages in the woods for fl owers and leaves, though she admits to buying blue hydrangeas to colour the skies. It’s a painstaking task to add each petal individually – the secret is “to overlap them like tiles on a roof so that any water runs off”, she says. The completed dressing is ten to 12 feet tall. Following a thanksgiving service in Tissington church,
clergy and congregation process around the village to bless each newly decorated well, and some 35,000 visitors come during the week to admire the dazzling handiwork. Each venue around the county boasts its own heritage.
Chesterfi eld, in contrast to Tissington, has quite a recent tradition, dating fi rst from 1864, when the town pump in the Market Place was decorated after a very dry summer,
Previous page: Dressed wells in Youlgrave, Tideswell and Rowsley, all in Derbyshire. Left: A well dressing under construction in Tissington. Below left: The ceremony at the well in Youlgrave
and revived in 1991. It also happens late in the season in September, when perhaps fewer fresh fl owers are available. “But there are beautiful red rowan berries to use for
lettering, and we often use dried chamomile”, says Alyson Barnes, who designs the town’s current pump dressing (there’s also one at the town’s famous ‘Crooked Spire’ Church with its idiosyncratic twisting spire). “My designs are not generally religious”, she says.
“I’ve actually done all sorts, including historic attractions like Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle and Chatsworth, a tiger and even the Flintstones”. Wherever the well dressing, it enjoys a week of glory
before the picture fades and the boards are dismantled. Yet Sir Richard, Wendy Greatorex, Alyson Barnes and countless others across Derbyshire who have devoted time and effort remain enthusiastic. Indeed, some are already planning the next year’s design.
WITNESS WELL DRESSING FOR YOURSELF! Well dressing is a tradition reserved primarily to the Peak District, perhaps because the remoteness of the Derbyshire hills and dales allowed Celtic traditions to linger (although you can see it in other areas of the UK, such as Cornwall). About 70 wells are dressed up across the region from April to September, with most on display in June or July. A full list of well dressing dates and venues can be found at
www.visitpeakdistrict.com/ welldressing, or you can request a free guide from Chesterfield Tourist Information Centre. You can visit when the well dressings are being created or when they are triumphantly on display (check the dates). Our selection of villages to visit for their well dressings, includes: Tissington: well dressing is under construction 30 May-1 June, and on display 2-8 June. Contact Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Bt, tel: (01335) 352200
www.britain-magazine.com
Ashford in the Water: under construction 11-17 June; on display 18-27 June. Contact Kimberley Fearn, tel: (01629) 813464 or Bakewell TIC, tel: (01629) 813227 Tideswell: under construction 13-18 June; on display 18-26 June. Contact Buxton TIC, tel: (01298) 25106 Youlgreave: under construction 22-24 June; on display 25-30 June. Contact Peter Pimm, tel: 07977 451399 or Bakewell TIC, tel: (01629) 813227 Bradwell: under construction 27-29 July; on display 30 July-7 Aug. Contact Peter Kobayashi, tel: (01433) 621459 or Castleton TIC, tel: (01629) 816572 Barlow: on display 17-23 Aug. Contact Peter Gouldthorpe, tel: (01246) 550152 or Chesterfield TIC, tel: (01246) 345777 Chesterfield: under construction 5-9 Sept; on display 10-17 Sept. Contact Chesterfield TIC, tel: (01246) 345777
If calling Britain from overseas, dial your international code, then 44, and drop the first zero • BRITAIN 21
flowers
ALL PHOTOS: DAVID OAKES/NEIL HOLMES/DAVE PORTER/RICHARD FITZHERBERT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100