Biggin Church Ruins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Biggin Church Ruins
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Biggin Church Ruins in 1940
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 Location in South Carolina
Location in the United States
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| Location | 2 miles northeast of Moncks Corner on South Carolina Highway 402, near Moncks Corner, South Carolina |
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| Built | ca. 1761 |
| NRHP reference No. | 77001215 |
| Added to NRHP | December 13, 1977 |
The Biggin Church Ruins are the remains of an old church in Berkeley County, South Carolina. This church is also known as Biggin Church. It's located about 2 miles (3 km) from Moncks Corner, South Carolina. The church has burned down three times since it was first built around 1711. The ruins you see today are from the church built in 1761 and rebuilt in 1781. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1977. Today, the ruins are still part of the land belonging to Strawberry Chapel.
Contents
History of Biggin Church
The place where the church stands, Biggin Hill, might be named after a place called Biggin Hill in London, England. The area around the church was made into a special district called the Parish of St. John's, Berkeley. This happened in 1704 and 1706. It was one of the biggest original parishes in the colony of South Carolina. These parishes helped with both religious and government tasks. The land for the church was given by a person named Landgrave John Colleton.
Fires and Rebuilding
The first church was built around 1711. It replaced an older wooden building used for church services. This first church burned down in a forest fire around 1755.
A new church was built in 1761 to replace the one that burned. During this time, important people like Henry Laurens and William Moultrie were part of the church community.
Revolutionary War Impact
During the American Revolutionary War, British soldiers used the church as a storage place. When they left in 1781, they burned the church and their supplies. After this, the church was rebuilt again.
Civil War and Later Years
The church was used until the American Civil War. During the war, the church's furniture was taken out, and the building was damaged. After the war, the church was not taken care of. Around the 1880s or 1890s, another forest fire burned the church. After this fire, people took bricks from the ruins to use for other building projects.
What the Church Looked Like
The church was a rectangular building made of brick. It was about 30 feet (9 meters) wide and 60 feet (18 meters) long. The bricks were laid in a special pattern called English bond.
Remaining Walls
Today, only two walls of the church remain standing. One wall was likely the main entrance. It has a large doorway with a special frame called a Gibbs surround. On each side of the doorway, there are two arched windows. The arches above the windows are made with wedge-shaped bricks called voussoirs.
The other remaining wall was at the end of the church. It has a door with windows on either side. At the corners of the walls, there are special decorative blocks called quoins. Near the bottom of the wall, there is a horizontal brick band called a water table, made with rounded bricks.
Church Treasures
A special stone tablet, which remembered an early church leader, was moved from Biggin Church. It was taken to a nearby smaller church called Strawberry Chapel, which is about 10 miles (16 km) away.
The silver cups and plates used for Communion at Biggin Church were hidden during the American Civil War. They were found buried in a barn in 1947! The silver was returned to Strawberry Chapel and can now be seen at the Charleston Museum.
There is also a cemetery near the church ruins that is still used today. It includes the grave of Sir John Colleton III, who was the great-grandson of one of the original owners of the colony.
