Minstrels Sang of Serpent Well

October 1966

South Yorkshire Times October 15, 1966

Minstrels Sang of Serpent Well

In 13th century England, minstrel singing of serpent well, Conisbrough, were heard by an unknown author, who made this song into a book, years later a Victorian writer published it in a local newspaper… And now Swinton historian, Mr Desmond Franks, has rewritten it once more… In contemporary form.

80,000 words

He told the “South Yorkshire Times”, “it runs to about 80,000 words – which is about 40,000 fewer than the Victorian version”

Mr Franks is a keen railway historian and this is his first work on a subject outside that subject.

“I have a book being considered by publishers at the moment,” he said. “It’s about the Stamford and Essendine railway – usually known as the Marquis of Exeter line. I have had published several other books on particular lines, but have never before attempted anything like this.”

Stopped to Read It.

His interest in Serpent Well, a well-known feature of Conisbrough history, was aroused while he was seeking information about local railways. He came across a serialised history of Conisbrough, and stopped in his research to read it.

“It was a foolish thing to do,” he said, “because as soon as I got into it I almost lost interest in the other thing. I determined from then to rewrite the story as soon as I could.”

The story is about two serfs from Roche Abbey who were sent to St Anne’s Chapel, beside the river at Denaby (now buried beneath Cadeby pit top) to deliver two flasks of wine.

Out Popped a Serpent

On the way they got drunk, and after rambling about the countryside decided they would deliver only one flask to the priest at Denaby. However, the priest, suspecting that he had been duped, put a curse on the other flask. When the serfs went Conisbrough cliffs to retrieve the hidden flask and to open it, out popped a serpent. This terrorised the neighbourhood for many weeks and it took the efforts of all the villagers to get rid of it.

“I don’t think I shall get it published in book form,” said Mr Franks, “but I should like it to appear in serial form in either a local newspaper of a Yorkshire magazine. I think it would make interesting reading.”