RHS Chatsworth celebrates well dressing tradition
Five local groups will showcase their well dressing skills at the first RHS Chatsworth Flower Show (7th to 11th June 2017). They will be working to create beautiful designs in natural materials such as flower petals, leaves and seeds for display at the show.
There is a strong tradition of well dressing in the area unique to the Peak District and Derbyshire. This is thought to date back to Roman and Celtic times, when communities would dress wells to give thanks for fresh water supplies.
The age-old tradition continues in scores of towns and villages between May and September each year, when everyone from schoolchildren to grandparents pitches in to create living arts installations made from flower petals and other natural materials.
Ashford Women’s Institute, Buxton Well Dressing, Burton Closes Hall & Bakewell AJ Welldressing, Chesterfield Town Pump Group and Tideswell Well Dressers will all be working to create beautiful designs in natural materials such as flower petals, leaves and seeds.
More than 62,000 tickets have already been sold for the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, for which the overarching theme is ‘Design Revolutionaries‘. The well dressing designs draw inspiration from the Derbyshire landscape and great innovators in design such as Sir Joseph Paxton and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, both of whom had a significant impact on the magnificent 1000 acre Chatsworth Estate.
Liz Patterson of the RHS Shows Team commented that they have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response they received from local well dressing groups: “We received some really exciting designs and concepts and can’t wait to see the finished product,” she said. “We aim to bring this unique custom to a different audience. We are sure our visitors will love it and plan that this becomes a regular feature at the show,” she continued.
Information about the winning designs chosen for the show can be seen at: http://press.rhs.org.uk/RHS-Shows/RHS-Chatsworth-Flower-Show
Photo credit: © Chatsworth House and Estate
