When I was first told about well dressing, I imagined a group of immaculately groomed lovies in suits and frocks. As it turns out, well dressing is pretty much as it sounds – dressing up wells.
Just up the road from us is the picture-postcard village of Tissington Well Dressing. The Tissington Estate has been in the hands of the FitzHerbert family since the reign of Elizabeth I. In the heart of the village is Tissington Hall which was built in 1609.
The village still remains as it was, in unspoilt condition, consisting of 13 farms, 40 cottages and various speciality shops. There are also 6 wells.
On Ascension Day the wells are blessed for providing an unending supply of water, in times of drought and plague. Part of this ceremony includes decorating the wells with petals, twigs and coffee beans.
As you can see from the photos above, the attention to detail is amazing, with thousands of overlapping flower petals being used all over.
Although I had taken my camera with us to record the dressing, being a bear of very small brain, I’d left the memory card plugged into the laptop, so you’ll have to put up with these, as taken on my phone.
