The Biggin Church Ruins are the ruins of a church in

Berkeley County, South Carolina Berkeley County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 229,861. Its county seat is Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Moncks Corner, and the larg ...

. Biggin Church is its name in the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

. The ruins are about from

Moncks Corner, South Carolina Moncks Corner is a town in and the county seat of Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,885 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Moncks Corner is included within the Ch ...

, near the intersection of South Carolina Highway 402 and State Highway 8-376. The church has been burned three times since it was first constructed in about 1711. It was the church of the parish of St. John's, Berkeley (Strawberry Chapel.) The ruins are from the church built in 1761 and its reconstruction in 1781. It was included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on December 13, 1977. UPDATE 11/2019: Biggin Church Ruins remain part of Strawberry Chapel’s land.

History

The site for the church, Biggin Hill, is probably named for

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, about south-southeast of Charing Cross. It is separated from London's built-up area by the Metropolitan green belt and is located adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Kent and ...

in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

. The Parish of St. John's, Berkeley was created in the South Carolina Assembly Act of 1704 and the Church Act of 1706. St. John's, Berkeley had the largest area of the original ten parishes of the Province. These parishes served both religious and civil functions in the colony. The land for the church was donated by the

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

John Colleton Sir John Colleton, 1st Baronet (1608–1666) served King Charles I during the English Civil War. He rose through the Royalist ranks during the conflict, but later had his land-holdings seized when the Cavaliers were finally defeated by Parliament ...

. The first church was built around 1711 to replace a wooden building that had been used for religious services. This church burned in a forest fire around 1755. The church was replaced with a new building in 1761. In this period, parishioners included

Henry Laurens Henry Laurens (December 8, 1792) was an American Founding Father, merchant, slave trader, and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Laur ...

and

William Moultrie William Moultrie (; November 23, 1730 – September 27, 1805) was an American slaveowning planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from t ...

. During the Revolutionary War, British troops used the church as a depot. As they retreated, the church and stores were burned in 1781. The church was rebuilt. The church was used up to the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. During the war, the furniture was removed and the church building was damaged. The church was neglected. Around 1886, 1890, or the 1890s. the church was burned in a forest fire. After the fire, its bricks were scavenged for other construction projects.

Architecture

The church was a rectangular brick building about by . It was originally done in

English bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

. Currently, only two walls remain. One wall was probably the main entrance. It has a large portal with

Gibbs surround A Gibbs surround or Gibbs Surround is a type of architectural frame surrounding a door, window or niche in the tradition of classical architecture otherwise known as a rusticated doorway or window. The formula is not fixed, but several of th ...

that is flanked by two windows on the left and on the right. The windows are arched with brick

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s. The other wall is the end of the church with a door flanked by windows on the left and right. There are

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

s at the corner and a

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

, which is horizontal projecting band, made with rounded bricks near the base of the wall. A mural tablet in memory of an early rector of the parish was moved from Biggin Church to its former

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

, Strawberry Chapel, which is about away. The silver Communion service from Biggin Church, which had been hidden at the end of the

, was found buried in a barn at the Combahee Plantation in 1947. The silver was returned to Strawberry Chapel's vestry and is currently (2019) on display at the Charleston Museum. There is a cemetery nearby that is still used. It includes the grave of Sir John Colleton III, the great grandson of the

Lord Proprietor A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the Europe ...

. Additional photographs of the ruins are available.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Churches in Berkeley County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley County, South Carolina