Peak Experience

Picture of Hope Well Dressing   Well-dressed well in the Peak District  Carefully making a well dressing in Litton

 

Visit the White Peak villages between May and September and you will come across strikingly decorated wells.  The ancient pagan custom of well dressing is unique to this area.  It was banned in early Christian times, along with all water worship.  But today it is resurrected as a delightful local art.  

 

Villagers use flower petals, seeds, berries, moss and all kinds of natural materials to create large pictures with biblical themes or of national events.  They prick out the outline of an overlaid design into a wet clay-covered board.  The overlay is removed and then they create the picture details, pressing their natural materials into the clay.  The whole process can take up to a week and most villages invite people in to watch the well dressing.

 

There are over 50 well dressings each year in the Peak District!

For more information, please see the Visit Peak District What's On Guide. Go to Search What's On and choose Well Dressings from the Event Category drop-down box.

           

Tissington has the earliest recorded well dressing in 1349.

 

Ruth the Gleaner well dressing  Visiting well dressings is a popular activity  The Follow well dressing in 2004