Well Dressing

Thankful appreciation of freshwater supply probably began with nature-worshipping Pagans. It took the form of Well Dressing (decoration) in Derbyshire and other areas, where porous limestone ground and occurrence of drought in certain years sharpened people’s awareness. The Black Death of 1348-49 also heightened gratitude for the clean, pure water found within surviving communities.

The practice has continued sporadically over the centuries, with a surge in the 1800s, and today there are dozens of well dressing displays and demonstrations at festivals from May to September. There are up to six boards per well, spring or spa and the designs for each are prepared well in advance.

The boards are thoroughly soaked in streamwaters a week before the event. They then have a frame and wire mesh affixed and the ‘puddlers’ push wet clay all over and smooth out the surface. Next, the design is etched on the clay through the paper design and the ‘petallers’ then start to gently press petals, berries, moss, wool, bark, eggshell, moss and even hair onto the clay, starting at the bottom to create rain-resistant overlapping like a tiled roof. The boards only last a week as the clay dries up and the natural elements die.

(Image: Alan Fleming at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)