Artists at Flitch Green Academy discussed the likely form of this fearsome beast of folklore – they imagined scale, wings, flight and aquatic skills. Some mused on his diet and demeanour .
Essex has a long history of water-serpent myths. The number of these stories may be because Essex boasts the longest coastline in England (350 miles), fractured with hundreds of water inlets and estuaries. Eels – some very long and ‘serpentine’ were a common food – it’s very possible fisherman and pirates met unknown creatures in the water!
One folklore tale is that a dragon emerged from an ancient lake near the village of Bures in Essex, terrorising villagers and eating their sheep. The nearby village of Wormingford is named after ‘Wyrm’ the medieval word for dragon or serpent.
