Tissington is known as the mother place of well dressing and visitors come from all over the world to witness the annual well dressing ceremony. This takes place on Ascension Day, when large crowds gather to see the wells blessed.For centuries five wells have been dressed in the village, Yew Tree Well, Hall Well, Hands Well, Coffin Well and Town Well, but in 1982 a sixth well, a Children's Well was introduced.
Dressing consists of erecting boards covered in clay, into which thousands of flower petals are pressed to create an elaborate tableaux of some biblical or topographical scene. It is probable that well dressing took place here in 1348, in thanksgiving for the village’s escape from the Black Death, which the villagers attributed to the purity of its water. Tissington having escaped the plague, while other local villages had been ravaged.
The precise origins of well dressing are unknown but probably date back to primitive man giving thanks to water gods for maintaining an adequate supply of water. Tissington is considered to have been the first place to dress wells in the county and wells have been dressed here for over 650 years. But not in unbroken succession, due to interruptions for two World Wars and the outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001.
Tissington is an estate village and Lords of the Manor, the FitzHerbert's, who have lived here for centuries have always taken considerable interest in the well dressings. This is maintained to the present day by Sir Richard FitzHerbert who takes an active role in the preparation work.
Visit www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/tissingtonwelldressings.htm
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