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Masbrough Independent Chapel

Buildings and structures demolished in 2012Churches in South YorkshireDemolished buildings and structures in South YorkshireGrade II listed churches in South YorkshireUse British English from June 2020

The Masbrough Independent Chapel (also known as Masbro Independent Chapel, Masbrough Chapel and Masbro Chapel) was an Independent or Congregationalist chapel in the Masbrough district of Rotherham, from the 18th century until the 1970s, at which point it became part of the United Reformed Church. The chapel remained part of the United Reformed Church until its closure as a place of worship towards the end of the 20th century. The chapel's congregation merged with the Greasbrough congregation of the United Reformed Church and then, in 2003, with the Greasbrough Methodist congregation to form a local ecumenical partnership using the name Greasbrough United Church. The former chapel building was Listed as a building of special historical or architectural interest. After it was no longer used as a place of worship, it found a new use as a carpet warehouse.The building suffered two serious fires in 2012, and it was demolished in December 2012.The chapel was closely associated with the Walker family who were leading industrialists in Rotherham. The Walker Mausoleum stands in the chapel's burial ground and the Mausoleum is itself a Listed building.The chapel was also closely associated with the Rotherham Independent Academy, a training school for ministers, founded in 1795. Later in the 19th century, the Academy moved from Masbrough to new premises built in "collegiate gothic" style on Moorgate Road, Rotherham. The Moorgate Road premises are now occupied by the Thomas Rotherham College. 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. Joshua and Thomas Walker were generous benefactors to the Academy.Williams had been one of those involved in the formation in 1794 of the missionary society that was later named London Missionary Society. Williams preached the charge to the first missionaries sent out by the society.During the ministry of the Reverend Thomas Nicholson (served 1879–1900) the worshipping congregation grew from 225 to 530.During the Depression of the 1920s and 30s, the congregation organized the construction of a bowling green on land near the chapel by un-employed men, for their recreational enjoyment, and classes in boot repair and other things were held to help them through the Depression.During the 1950s, the chapel's minister Cyril Grant provided ministerial oversight for the formation and development of a new church at Herringthorpe, the church that is now the Herringthorpe United Reformed Church. 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.

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Masbrough Independent Chapel
Centenary Way,

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N 53.431 ° E -1.365 °
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Centenary Way

Centenary Way
S60 1EP , Masbrough
England, United Kingdom
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Rotherham Tramway
Rotherham Tramway

The Rotherham Tramway was a tramway system serving the West Riding town of Rotherham. Service began on 31 January 1903 and ended on 13 November 1949.The network of six lines spread across the town and was linked to the tramway networks of Sheffield and Mexborough & Swinton.Rotherham tramways ran on six lines joining in the town's centre and serving Thrybergh, Silverwood Colliery and Broom Road to the East, Canklow and Sheffield to the South, Kimberworth to the West and Rawmarsh to the North. The line to Sheffield was Rotherham's busiest as it served the main steel producing area of Great Britain. It required an almost constant flow of tramcars to meet demand. Track was re-laid in 1933 as well as single-ended double-decker tramcars purchased to serve on this particular line. Indeed, the line was built with loop termini. The tramcars used for the Sheffield-Rotherham service were equipped with only one entrance and staircase and like on traditional double-decker buses, seats were made to be comfortable. Tram service ended on this route in 1948 and Sheffield trams ended at Tinsley (where the change of owner occurred until 1926 when the Sheffield Corporation purchased the line up to Vulcan Road). An extension of the line to Broom Top to Maltby was opened for trolleybuses in 1912, this being the third trolleybus line in Great Britain. Trolleybuses were permitted to reach the town centre in 1924 along with trams. Tram routes to Rawmarsh Road, Broom Road, Kimberworth and Thrybergh were converted to trolleybuses in 1929 and 1931. The line to Canklow was converted to motorbuses in 1934. Double-decker trolleybuses were built from the single-deck fleet from 1955. Twenty-three of these were sold in Spain with the last trolleybus running in 1965. Trams returned to Rotherham in October 2018 when the Sheffield Supertram was extended to Rotherham Parkgate.