page_title: St Nicholas' Church, Berden
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Nicholas' Church, Berden / History
caption_attribution_description: English: St Nicholas' parish church, Berden, Essex: view from the northeast, showing the chancel and north transept
context_page_description: St Nicholas' Church is a Grade I listed parish church in the village of Berden, Essex, England.
  Of the Early English Gothic style, the church has a Norman nave with 13th-century transepts and a tower dated to the 15th century. It underwent major restoration in 1868.
  The church held a 20th-century 38-year revival of a "Boy Bishop" miracle play. It contains memorials to significant families of the local Berden Hall and Berden Priory, and to a murdered Berden parish constable.
  St Nicholas’ is part of a joint benefice—sharing a common priest— in the Deanery of Saffron Walden of the Diocese of Chelmsford. Other churches in the group are St Mary the Virgin at Manuden; St Simon and St Jude at Quendon; and All Saints at Rickling.
context_section_description: No church or priest for Berden is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book.  St Nicholas’ parish register dates from 1715.
  The present church nave dates from the 12th century, with the chancel and transepts from the 13th, and the tower from the 15th. The chancel was rebuilt in part, and the church restored, in the 19th century at which time a south porch was added. A complete 1868 restoration was carried out at a cost of £2000.  Before the 1868 restoration the church was recorded as containing a north and a south aisle, and a tower of four bells; and in 1818 as containing five bells.
  The earliest record of a priest at Berden is that of John de Askeby in 1325.  At the time of the Church of England’s Secession and break with Rome Berden priests were appointed by the Bishop of London. During the 19th century the incumbent priest held his office and living under a vicarage, or a curacy that might have been perpetual or stipendiary. The living of the Rev Frederick Gifford Nash in the mid-19th century had a yearly value of £150, with a further allowance of £18. 10s from Queen Anne's Bounty. He received a residence and 3 acres (0.01 km²) of glebe—land used to support a parish priest—in the gift of Christ’s Hospital. By the end of the 19th century the value of the living had not increased, and had only risen slightly to £182 by 1914.
  Within the churchyard, to the south-west of the tower, is a stone marker for the grave of Henry Trigg. Trigg was the Berden parish constable at the beginning of the 19th century, and ran a shoe shop adjacent to Berden Hall in the village. On the night of 25 March 1814 two men from Bishops Stortford, a William Pratt and a Thomas Turner, broke into Trigg's shop to thieve leather goods. They were confronted by Trigg and his father. Trigg offered defence by disabling Turner, but after a Pratt attempt to shoot Trigg’s father with a double-barrelled gun, both father and son made to escape. Pratt, using the words "Now, damn your heart, I will do for you", then shot Trigg in the chest, killing him. A year later Pratt and Turner were captured by the Bow Street Runners, sentenced to death, and sent to the gallows. The words "In memory of Henry Trigg of this Parish Aged 36 years Who was murdered March 25th 1814 endeavouring to protect his property" were recorded as written on the tombstone. Following the execution of Pratt and Turner, a postscript was reportedly added to Trigg’s stone: "March 13th 1815 Wm Pratt, Thos Turner Both of Bishops Stortford, Herts. Were executed at Chelmsford for the above offence on their own confession".
  The Rev Herbert Kynaston Hudson, vicar from 1899 to 1937, reintroduced the miracle play and ceremony of the ‘Boy Bishop’, based on a 15th-century tradition. A boy would take the role of bishop, central to the event celebrating the life of Saint Nicholas, and would hold the 'office' for the year. Hudson set up in 1901 the 'Guild of St Nicholas' for both boys and girls, this to organize the event and elect the 'bishop'. The event was again revived in 1956-57 and between 1961 and 1966. An equivalent election was for a girl as the ‘May Queen’, who was accompanied by the Boy Bishop and the vicar to the top of the church tower on May Day. Film units from British-Pathé and Gaumont British recorded and screened Berden's Boy Bishop ceremony.
  St Nicholas’ received an English Heritage Grade I building listing on 21 February 1967.
  In 2009 St Nicholas’ received a grant of £3000 for tiling and gutter work from the Friends of Essex Churches.
caption: St Nicholas' from the north east with chancel and north transept
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