Biggin Church Ruins, Moncks Corner South Carolina
The original Biggin Church was probably completed ca. 1711, just five years after the parish of St. John's Berkeley was created. Saint John's Berkeley lost its first parish church by fire in 1755, and shortly thereafter, built another, massively of brick, on a fine point of Tippy Cutlow Hill looking over Biggin (or Biggon) Swamp.
During the American Revolution, ammunitions were stored in the church by British troops who, upon leaving, set the church on fire. According to Dalcho, the church was repaired shortly thereafter.
During the War Between the States, the church was again damaged, According to a report made in 1868, "Previous to the war no Parish in the Diocese was better prepared to take care of its clergyman. It owned a rice plantation that rented for twelve hundred, sometimes for fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and about ten thousand dollars in stocks. It owned a winter parsonage and a summer residence for its ministers, in a healthy position. But almost all this has gone, Biggin Church was much injured and its walls defaced; all the pews, the desk and chancel rails were torn down and burnt. The congregation is not revived, except by a monthly service".
The church was again burned in the late 1890s in a forest fire. It has not been rebuilt since that time. Although only portions of two walls remain, there is evidence that originally Biggin Church was designed with a degree of sophistication. Notable architectural details which remain include a Gibbs surround at the main portal, quoins at the corner, radiating voussoirs over the windows, and a rounded water table, all executed in brick.
The church is located amidst an early graveyard. This cemetery is again being used.
