Well dressing

[11][12] Similarly, well dressing was revived at this time in Youlgreave, to celebrate the supplying of water to the village "from a hill at some distance, by means of pipes laid under the stream of an intervening valley.".[13] With the arrival of piped water the tradition was adapted to include public taps, although the resulting creations were still described as well dressings.The custom waxed and waned over the years, but has seen revivals in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Kent.The picture is then filled in with natural materials, predominantly flower petals and mosses, but also beans, seeds and small cones.John Brunner's story "In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells" describes the revival of the custom in an English village of the West Country after World War I, and its connection to the Goddess.
Well dressing in Tissington , 2007
Well or tap dressing in Wirksworth in the 1860s.
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