Flowers UK London

In certain parts of England there is a centuries old floral tradition of well dressing.

Well dressing almost certainly dates back to pagan times, when sacrifices were made to water gods for maintaining the supply of water and as an inducement to continue to do so. The sacrifices took both human and animal form, but gradually the cruelty and wastefulness of this method of giving thanks gave way to primitive man hanging garlands of flowers over the wells.

Water was such a vital commodity for ancient man that settlements were always located close to a good supply of fresh water and the consequences of the source running dry were dire. This led to many other countries offering thanks to water gods at pagan festivals and flowers were often used. In Italy, at Genzano, flowers were arranged to form a gigantic pattern along the village street, but in no other country were boards used to mount the display, as in Derbyshire.