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The Parish Church of St. John's,
Berkeley
BERKELEY COUNTY
The ruins of the Parish Church of St. John's,
Berkeley, better known as Biggin Church, in Berkeley County,
stand as a monument to those who built their first houses of
worship in this country under adverse conditions. One of the
oldest organizations in South Carolina, the parish was founded
by Act of Assembly in 1706 and a church was begun in
1710.
It has seen the ravages of fire three times in
its history. Burned by forest fire in 1755, it was restored
and again burned in 1781 by Colonel Coats of the British Army.
Restored a second time, it was burned by forest fires about
1886.
This building is said to have been a famous
rendezvous for Marion's men during the Revolutionary
War.
The communion service, with its guilded silver
chalice brought by Huguenots from La Rochelle, buried during
the Confederate War at Comingtee Plantation has never been
found.
General William Moultrie and Henry Laurens were
among the vestrymen of the parish, and Sir John Colleton, III,
great grandson of the Lord Proprietor, lies buried in a marble
vault covered with tangled vines, in the churchyard.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina Churches
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