Well-dressings at Tissington, Ashford in the Water, and Youlgreave

Spring is the time for Derbyshire villagers to decorate thier wells and springs with flowers. The origins of the tradition are lost in time but there's generally a consensus that it gves thanks for the purity of water which was believed to have kept villages safe during times of plague.

Whatever the origins today it's a chance to see an artistic tradition still taking place, and visit some, if not all, of the pretty Derbyshire villages involved. There are frequently fairs and flower festivals taking place at the same time, with sleepy villages becoming quite busy for a few days.

Tissington Hall

Usually I'd add on a walk in the surrounding countryside but this spring the weather has been so warm that I settled for enjoying the views from the car park
 

Youlgreave church 

Church at Ashford in the Water which
 holds a flower festival to coincide
with the well-dressings

Something that's lovely to see is the encouragement of younger generations. Several places have a special Children's Well for which the decorations are created by the schoolchildren of the village, hopefully keeping the tradition alive for years to come. 

Tissington Welldressings

Late Spring brings |Derbyshire well-dressing time, traditionally starting in Tissington at Ascension, followed over the succeeding months by displays in many  towns and villages across the county. Tradition says that they were originally erected to give thanks to the pure water from the wells which saved the villagers from the Black Death, and in most places a church service is held blessing the wells.  

The mosaics are created with flowers, leaves and coloured stones pressed into a clay backing board, often with religious themes, or commemorations of important events - or as in this case a combination of the two; Jacob's Dream at Bethel and Walt Disney.

more Walt Disney

We visited Tissington on the last day of the displays, and after a week of dry sunny weather the clay was beginning to crack. The displays were still lovely though.

 

A few weeks later, I visited Ashford in the Water welldressings - see here 

Tissington Welldressings 2018

Tissington is a quaint, sleepy village, nestling in the Derbyshire countryside, hidden from the passing A-road.












There's a Hall, a church, stone cottages, a village green, and a duck pond. Everything you'd expect.

At this time of year, though, you'll find lots of visitors, all there to see the well-dressings.

It's a Derbyshire tradition, with its origins lost in time - some say it's a celebration of surviving the Plague of 1665, or a particularly bad drought during which the wells didn't run dry - but throughout the summer months villages across the county decorate their wells with mosaics made of flower petals, seeds and pebbles.















Tissington welldressing week begins on Ascension Day, and the wells here generally draw on bible stories or hymns for inspiration.

stones and petals mark out the wording

Moses in the bullrushes is a bit
hidden by the bright sunlight

This was my favourite - the words of the hymn are normally thought of in reference to sailors, but here 'those in peril' include a turtle caught in a fishing boat's nets, and the 'peril' includes a seabed littered with plastic.

I also loved these poppies at the 'Coffin Well'.

After walking round the village, we headed out across the fields, watched by some curious sheep, to reach the Tissington Trail, a foot and cycle path following an old railway line.

I'm not sure what Dylan thought of the welldressings but he certainly enjoyed the walk, and a stop to admire the view out towards Parwich.

Further well-dressings in 2018 - Ashford in the Water,