Complex sentence: In the early Middle Ages the village was well-populated for its size, with 154 adults registered for the poll tax of 1377, but the population declined sharply after that, perhaps due to a devastating fire caused by a thunderstorm of September 1393.
Split into simpler sentences: In the early Middle Ages the village was well populated for its size, with 154 adults registered for the poll tax of 1377. However, the population declined sharply after that, perhaps due to a devastating fire caused by a thunderstorm of September 1393.