Short answers, pulled from the story.
Temple Works was designed by three people: the engineer James Coombe, a former pupil of John Rennie; the painter David Roberts; and the architect Joseph Bonomi the Younger. It was built for the industrialist John Marshall between 1836 and 1840.
The Marshall family's interest in Egyptology was the named inspiration for the design. The office building drew from the temple at Antaeopolis and the Temple of Horus at Edfu, while the factory derived from the Typhonium at Dendera.
Sheep grazed on the grass-covered roof to help retain humidity inside the flax mill. The moisture prevented the linen thread from drying out and becoming unmanageable during the spinning process.
On the 11th of August 1871, 600 operatives at the Water Lane mills staged a one-day strike demanding a 10% pay rise. After days of negotiation, and following a Leeds Mercury article contrasting workers' poverty with the Marshall family's luxury, the 10% increase was conceded.
Temple Works is under consideration as a permanent northern branch of the British Library. The government's 2020 budget pledged £25 million toward the restoration, and in February 2025 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed a further £10 million for Homes England to bring the building into public ownership.
Temple Works is a Grade I listed building and the only Grade I listed structure in Holbeck, Leeds. English Heritage described it as probably the finest example of a carved stone elevation in the whole region.