When he took vows as a cleric is unrecorded, but Nigel held a prebend, an ecclesiastical office in the cathedral, in the see of London before holding one of the offices of archdeacon in the diocese of Salisbury, although which archdeaconry he held is unclear. Most modern historians believe that Nigel was brother to Alexander of Lincoln, later Bishop of Lincoln, but this relationship is not specifically attested in the sources, which merely state that both were Roger's nephews. William of Malmesbury, a medieval chronicler, considered both Alexander and Nigel to be well educated and diligent. Nigel attended the consecration of Bernard as Bishop of St David's at Westminster in 1115, and may have returned to England from Laon by 1112. From the time of his return until around 1120 he served as a royal chaplain and attested a number of royal charters.