Wells Dressing

Wells Dressing was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the social distancing measures introduced to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

We’re plugging the holes in our collection of Wells Dressing photos. Prior to 2002, we have just two photos, of the Adults’ Wells from 2000 and 1978, and we don’t have any of the School’s Wells from 2013. If you’d be prepared to let us use one or more of yours, please get in touch.

Dressing and blessing wells is an important tradition in many Derbyshire villages, originally started as a thanksgiving for the gift of water, especially in times of drought. Three dressings are erected close to wells in Monyash during the Spring Bank Holiday week at the end of May. Wells Dressings are intricate pictures depicting inspiring scenes created from local natural materials such as flower petals, mosses, leaves, twigs and small stones, which are pressed into a clay base within a wooden frame. The dressings, ranging from two feet high to six feet high, are painstakingly created over several days. The two children’s wells are made by the pupils of Monyash Primary School and the adult well dressing is created by the adults with help from friends, relatives and even the occasional passer-by!