page_title: St Nicholas' Church, Berden
section_title: Exterior
hierarchical_section_title: St Nicholas' Church, Berden / Architecture / Exterior
caption_attribution_description: English: Berden St Nicholas exterior south porch
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: St Nicholas’ is of flint rubble, clunch and limestone construction, and cruciform footprint. It comprises a chancel, nave, north and south transepts, a west tower and a south porch, and is of Early English  and Perpendicular style. The roofs are red tiled throughout.
  The church's 15th-century three-stage tower is of Gothic Perpendicular style. Of approximately 12 feet (4 m) square in footprint, the bottom stage contains a door and window on its west face. The restored 15th-century door, faced with decorative hinges, is set within a chamfered arch topped by a rectilinear enclosure; between this and the arch are spandrels with inset rosettes containing quatrefoils. Around the top of the squared surround is a rectilinear hood mould. Above the door is a restored 15th-century Perpendicular pointed arch window set within a chamfered reveal. The window is of three lights up to the outer arch spring, each ending in a trefoil-headed arch. Above the lights is panel tracery—a Perpendicular style of upright straight openings above lower lights—leading to further arches. Around the window opening arch is a hood mould. The second tower stage west side, slightly set back, contains a narrow arrowslit window rebated within an arch, possibly 15th-century. Above the apex of the window opening is a small round stone with a carved diagonal cross inset. On the south face is a c. 2000 tower clock; circular, convex, and with gold numerals. The belfry third stage, set back again, contains a restored 15th-century window opening on all sides, all of two lights with trefoil heads, louvred, and ending in a flattened pointed arch with hood mould. The tower parapet is deeply embattled. Inset behind the battlements is a four-sided pyramid stub spire. An angled buttress runs almost to the height of the first stage at the nave ends of the north and south sides—English Heritage states there are no tower buttresses. From the bases of the buttresses is a simple moulded socle (plinth) topped by a cill band—angled projection that allows water to flow from a building face— running around the tower.
  The nave is approximately 44.5 feet (14 m) east to west and 20 feet (6 m) north to south. The north side contains a 19th-century window with arched lancets and a twin-stepped angle buttress. Running off the nave south side is the 1868 porch, with door set within a deeply rounded arch opening with a following hood mould above. On both east and west sides is a small twin-light window with ogee trefoiled head arches within a rectilinear frame. The porch roof is steeply pitched and surmounted by a cross of Celtic appearance. Within the porch, to the right of the nave door opening is a 15th-century stoup with worn basin within a pointed recess. Immediately to the east of the porch is three-light flat-arched window with cinquefoil heads, dated to the 15th century with reused 13th-century material.
  Attached between the nave and chancel are north and south transepts. The north transept is 18.5 feet (5.6 m) east to west, and 15.5 feet (4.7 m) north to south. It has a 19th-century window of three lights below tracery on both the east and north walls, both within a 14th-century opening. To the west of the north window is a 13th-century arched doorway, above which is a small niche with trefoil head. The south transept is 18.5 feet (5.6 m) east to west, and 19 feet (5.8 m) north to south. It contains on its east side a restored 14th-century window with ogee-headed twin lights and tracery within a square head. The south wall 14th-century window is of ogee-headed twin lights and tracery with an arch surround and hood mould. The south transept has twin-stepped diagonal buttresses.
  The Chancel is 24 feet (7 m) east to west, and 17 feet (5 m) north to south. The east chancel window, part of the 1868 restoration, is of three lights, the centre light running to the chamfered window arch, the outer lights running to the window arch spring. The mullions have three part circular shafts as dressing sitting on moulded bases, topped with floriated capitals. Above the two outer lights are qua
caption: South porch and nave
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L810", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX L810   V1.0", "Image DateTime": "2014:05:19 13:30:22", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "234", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "58370", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4117", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1250", "EXIF FNumber": "31/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:05:19 13:30:22", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:05:19 13:30:22", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "33/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "4", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "58240", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "23", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}