Representations of the Themes of Conflict and Peace within the Tradition of Well Dressing

Abstract

This article explores the themes of conflict and peace as depicted within the English calendar custom of well dressing, a form of rural folk art where large tableaux are produced annually in the summer months using only natural materials pressed into a clay-filled board which is then sited at a local water source as an offering of gratitude for the essential gift of water. The custom is traditionally associated with the counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire although it has spread further afield in recent years. The research includes both fieldwork (the author has been documenting the completed well dressings as well as their construction for a number of years, and in 2022 became a participant in the custom for the first time by joining the team of volunteer well dressers at the closest site to where he grew up) and study of archival sources including local newspaper reports to see how elements of the design process have changed over the years and been subject to influence by external trends.