Well dressings are an ancient Derbyshire tradition. It's not clear how far back the tradition dates, but many sources state that it began as a pagan thanksgiving to the water gods for the villages supply of fresh water. Without fresh water wells, crops would fail, and famine and drought would quickly make the villages uninhabitable, so it's no wonder that traditional festivities developed to give thanks for a continuing supply of water.
It is often thought that the village of Tissington starts the annual well-dressing season in Derbyshire, but this isn't always the case (as their well-dressing date is tied to Ascension Day which is a moveable feast), and new arrivals on the well dressing calendar can always jump in earlier! This is the case for Severn Trent's Carsington Visitor Centre well-dressing, which is one of the first of the 2010 season, and is also the first time that well-dressing has occurred at the centre.
New Water-related Festival for Carsington Water Visitor Centre
Ian Bunting, the Customer Services Manager of the Carsington Water Visitor Centre explains "We've had a lot of festivals over the years, but we really wanted to do something that was related to water and conservation. Coming from Derbyshire, I've grown up with well-dressings as a local tradition and I really wanted to bring this to Carsington Water." This year is the first well-dressing for Carsington Water visitor centre, and given that it's been a great success so far - Ian suspects it will be back bigger and better for 2011.
Part of Ian's aim was to bring all the staff of the visitor centre and retail stores complex together - so that they were all part of the event and all participated in the making of the seven "wells" (as each dressing is typically called). Ian provided each store with the the basic frame, complete with clay puddling, now all the stores had to do was come up with their own design and make it!
Well Dressings A New Challenge For the Water Centre Staff
As Lynne Stevenson of Marsdens Gift Shop explains "It was quite a challenge. Most of us had never done a well before, but fortunately Ian has quite a bit of experience and was able to guide us through the process. We only finished ours at 8pm last night - the petals that formed the hands in our well took much longer to place than the stones, especially as we had to do this in between serving customers!"
Where to Find the Well Dressings at Carsington Water
The finished result - seven impressive well dressings of completely different designs all celebrating the theme of water, most also with a conservation of water theme. Six are on view under covered walkways around the courtyard of the Carsington Water Visitor Centre and the seventh is hidden just inside the doorway of the Watersports Centre.
Each one uses different materials - most have flower petals and heads, leaves and seeds somewhere in the design, but some use stones and other less traditional materials in their design. The one from Carsington Water's reception staff is a nicely thought out representation of the water cycle.
The well-dressing season continues throughout the summer each year, with Tissington and Eyam being two of the largest events. A calendar of times can be found at DerbyshireWelldressing.com.
Chiz Dakin - A keen mountain walker, scrambler, cyclist and occasional climber and sea kayaker for several years, Chiz Dakin has carried a camera with ...
