The chapel remained part of the United Reformed Church until its closure as a place of worship towards the end of the 20th century.
Later in the 19th century, the Academy moved from Masbrough to new premises built in "collegiate gothic" style on Moorgate Road, Rotherham.
In 1795, Dr Edward Williams took the pastorate at the chapel and also became the first theological tutor at the then newly formed Rotherham Independent Academy which was built nearby.
This work first started in hired rooms at the Herringthorpe Junior School, later moving into its own purpose-built premises on Wickersley Road, adjacent to the Stag Inn.
Aaron was a farm worker who, together with a relative John Crawshaw, had begun experimenting with smelting and casting, in about 1741.
In just a few decades, they built the business into one of biggest iron and steel concerns in the country, and became the leading Ironmasters in the North.
Cannon in the ships of the English fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) had been made in the Walker family's factories.
These brothers (Jonathan, Samuel and Aaron) were the sons (by his second wife, Anne Hargreave) of Joseph Walker (1673–1729), a nailmaker of Grenoside.
The controversy began to develop after John Wesley had preached a sermon in Bristol (1739) titled "Free Grace", in which he espoused theological doctrines known as Arminian.
There were numerous wall monuments including a plaque to the Revd John Thorp (died 1776) and several to members of the Walker family, notably that to Jonathan Walker (died 1807)[4] with statue depicting a man leaning on a truncated column with head in hand.