Situation 

Berden is at the North West corner of Essex, on the border with Hertfordshire and only 5 miles from the border with Cambridgeshire. It is one of the higher parts of the county rising to almost 120m and is part of the chalk uplands that stretch across to Royston. There is one strange exception to this. On the southern side of Little London is a deep stretch of clean sand which might just give some credence to the theory, referenced in The Estuary, by A.K.Astbury (The Carnforth Press 1980), that the river Thames might originally have flowed through Bishops Stortford to its outlet to the sea somewhere around Kings Lynn.

Brief History  

The history of Berden starts 3,500 years ago, in the Bronze Age. When the foundations for the Wesleyan Chapel were being dug in 1907, a Bronze Age skeleton was unearthed. The Wesleyan Chapel has since become Berden Village Hall but the architecture of its original purpose can still be seen. It must have been an exciting day when the Village heard that the men digging the foundations for the new Chapel, George Knight, George Mynott and William White, had unearthed a skeleton with an armlet and beaker some 18" below the surface. Within a few hours, the armlet had been sold to the blacksmith named S. Sibley but was seen by Rev. H. K. Hudson who was then the Vicar. It was not until 1918 - 19 that Guy Maynard F.R.A.L. and G. Montague Benton MA heard of the important find. Luckily they were able to take independent statements from the men on their return from service in the First World War

Their reports can be summed up-as follows:

"A trench was being dug for the wall footings. William White drove his pick through the skull. The skeleton was about 18" below the surface and appeared to be lying on its back at full length and all the bones seemed to be present. Near the wrist of the left arm was a ring of dark metal and the two bones of the arm were stained green where they had passed through it. George Knight picked up the ring and sold it afterwards to Mr. Sibley, the blacksmith. The earthenware pot was dug out with the bones and seemed to be on the left side towards the feet. We found the skeleton before breakfast. On our return from breakfast, we found the bones scattered and the skull had disappeared. We never heard what became of it. After a time, we buried the remaining bones in one of the wall trenches."

Map of Berden