Complex sentence: Whether there was maypole dancing during the days of the Abbey is unknown but, in John Bunyan's day, when the puritan government banned Maypoles in 1652, Elstow was one of the places which chose to ignore the ban.
Split into simpler sentences: Whether there was maypole dancing during the days of the Abbey is unknown. When the puritan government banned Maypoles in 1652, Elstow was one of the places which chose to ignore the ban.