Wakes & Well Dressings
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Derbyshire is the home of well dressing and the annual blessing of the watersupply, in the form of the well, is an ancient custom which is unique to the Peak District and the surrounding areas. The custom had almost died out in the 1950s, but since then it has been revived with great enthusiasm in most villages, and the summer months provide an influx of visitors, who marvel at the floral displays, alongside admiring locals.
Sometimes thought to be a practice which grew out of horrors brought by the Black Death in 1348-9, when around a third of the population of England died of the disease, some Peak Villages, such as Tissington, were untouched. It was thought by some of the local popluation that this wasdue to their clean water supply and the offered thanks by 'dressing' their village wells. It does seem more likely, however, that the practice may go back even further - probably to pagan times as the dressings always having an associated "well queen", and this tends to lend itself as to links to spring fertility and ancient pagan rites.
The limestone villages continued this practice in the main a with a succession of different villages dressing their wells between the end of May and early September. Tideswell celebrations start at the backend of June, with Well dressing o the first weekend, followed by events throughout the "Wakes week" until Carnival the following weekend, to mark it's end.
Well dressings are a very skilful art in which quire often most of the population of the village can be involved. It takes about ten days to create a dressing using wet clay spread to a depth of a couple of inches across a wooden board. The chosen themed design is then 'pricked out' using a paper pattern and petals and other ornamental natural adornments are placed in the areas laid out by the design. It is a laborious and time-consuming process, and the clay has to be kept damp throughout or it will crack and the petals will fall away. After the well dressing is erected against one of three well spots, it is blessed in a short outdoor service, and often a brass band will perform. There is then a procession around the village to ensure all three wells are blessed in turn on the day.
2011 Wakes week was celebrated from 18th June to 26th June, with dressings made from 13th June to 17th June. Unfortunately, the week was a bit soggy, as it did rain from Sunday to Saturday one but this did not dampen spirits and all activities went ahead as planned, with plenty of festivities including maypole dancing outside St. John's church, by members of Bishop Purseglove's Primary School, flower arrangements at the Fountain Square church and a house and street dressing competition
The street competition was won by first time entrants, Market Square, with their nautical theme.
The best dressed house was won by Meadow View of Lower Terrace Road, who created their own Indian themed restaurant and Indian "T" plantation, as part of Lower Terraces quest to travel the world as part of their own street entry.
It was a fun week and definitely worth a visit in 2012 to experience