Derbyshire Well Dressing

Well dressing in Ashford is a homage to the abundance of water. In Ashford six wells are dressed by layering petals, leaves and other natural objects into a bed of clay to form an impressive picture. This takes place once a year.

The Blessing of the water supply, in the form of the well, is an ancient ceremony which has recently been revived for the tourist industry, having virtually died out in the area by the 1950's. Some sources attribute the practice to the period of the Black Death in 1348-9, when probably a third of the population of England died of the disease, but some villages such as Tissington were untouched. The local people thought this was due to their clean water supply and gave thanks by 'dressing' the village wells. However, it seems very likely that the practice goes back much further than this - probably to pagan times - and the fact that many well dressings have a 'well queen' suggests echoes of ancient fertility rites.

The practice is continued mainly in the limestone villages of the central and southern peak with a succession of different villages dressing their wells between the end of May and early September. Traditionally, Tissington is the earliest in late May and Eyam is the last of the large festivals at the end of August. 

The construction of the well dressing is a skilful art in which the whole village gets involved. They are only allowed to use natural materials to cover the clay filled boards, this is normally carried out just in the week prior to them going on display. 

After the well dressing is erected, the well is blessed in a short outdoor service, and usually a brass band will be there for the occasion. Since many of the towns and villages have several wells, there will then be a procession around the town to bless each one in turn. The well blessing ceremony is usually the signal for the start of a week of celebrations (or 'wakes') with a range of events.