Garden Group No.2 Talk on Well Dressing

    Mrs Sheila Warwicker from Chadkirk gave an extremely interesting talk and demonstration on the tradition and art of 
    well dressing.
    She explained that this was generally a north of England tradition, especially in Derbyshire and was started in medieval times 
    to bless the wells and keep away the plague The first recorded dressing was in Tissington in 1348 and later spread to many
    other villages in the area. The origins are thought to be a Pagan tradition and frowned upon by the Christians, today however
    it is very popular with villages competing to have the best dressed well.
    We were shown stages of the production and materials used to form the picture or messages to be depicted with
    photographs of some of the recent displays at Chadkirk.
    After agreeing a design the outline is pricked out on wooden boards skimmed with special clay that is always kept damp.
    The design outline is then filled with a variety of materials, including flowers, leaves, seeds stone, slate and many other 
    suitable garden materials. Displays were made up in several sections so that many volunteers could work at the same time 
    and brought together just before the display was finalised.
    Sheila explained she had started as a helper but now was responsible for all the stages from design through to the final 
    assembly and found it a very satisfying job despite it being frustrating at times.
    She had brought a long a small miniature for members to try their skills, it was more difficult than was expected especially 
    for the men but then what do you expect .

  Click Here to See Photogrphs