The second day of February is Candlemas, or the Feast of the Purification, in the Religious Calendar. The Candlemas Bell, or the Fair Maid February, or simply the Snowdrop will be in bloom on that day, even if hidden away under snow. 

   This early flower, although well established in the countryside, is not a native of Britain. It was brought here some centuries ago from it's homeland in Europe. There have been suggestions that the earliest ones were grown in monastery gardens; the plant being used for medicinal purposes. Later it became one of the coveted range of spring flowering bulbs grown in the fancy display gardens of halls and country houses. In the vicinity of these places, and around monasteries, is where some of the largest groupings of the snowdrop is still to be found. Some of these properties may have long since been raised to the ground, but the descendants of the, originally planted, snowdrop still emerge year on year to tell a tale of the earlier times, as an old map may well reveal. Displays, too, can be found in old churchyards for once the snowdrop was planted on graves, due to an association with purity.

   The first actual written record of a snowdrop growing in the wider countryside was in the eighteenth century. It can grow reproduce by seed, for early bees do visit the flower, but it does also increase by disturbance to the soil, resulting in the redistribution of its tiny bulblets. Although it can be found growing in many situations, the snowdrop much prefers dampish soil, and it is in dampish soil where some of the most impressive, naturalised, displays are to be seen.​