About 1816 his sight began to fail; in 1817 he resigned his pulpit, receiving a large sum of money from his congregation as a testimonial; and preaching his farewell sermon on 22 June, he retired to a cottage he had built for himself at his favourite summer haunt, Southerndown, Glamorganshire.
It was also featured in the Bob Dylan film Hearts of Fire, with Dylan looking out over the second beach down onto Rupert Everett.