From pilgrimage to planting: Oswestry in Bloom team revives sacred site
This year’s Britain in Bloom judging in Oswestry fell the day after St Oswald’s feast day, 5 August. To celebrate the origins of “Oswestry”, the Oswestry in Bloom team decided to focus on St Oswald’s Well. Once a site of pilgrimage and devotion, the well is now a quiet area to sit, overlooked by a huge statue of a large bird. The team have been tidying the area planting spring bulbs and perennials, whilst Oswestry Town Council have been repairing the platform above the well.
Inspired by the well-dressings seen in Derbyshire, the team decided to create their own interpretation. The traditional clay method takes a huge amount of experience, and the technicalities are complex. Oswestry’s cut down version consists of panels decorated with natural materials celebrating the town, location and fauna & flora. Designed by the committee, the panels were decorated by volunteers, the public and children at workshops held in Oswestry Memorial Hall over the weekend.
The panels were put up on St Oswald’s Day and complement the floral arrangements by Oswestry & Borders Flower Arranging Club. The decoration will remain in place for a few days but obviously, being made of natural materials, will suffer from the weather, so if you want to see it then you need to visit soon!
