It was designed by the engineer James Coombe a former pupil of John Rennie;[2] the painter David Roberts; and the architect Joseph Bonomi the Younger.

The early 1830s had been a time of great prosperity for the firm after the introduction of the wet spinning process in 1829, the transition to which took five years to complete.

[4] A Mr Smith had already built the first single-storey cotton mill in Deanston, near Stirling, but Messrs. Marshall planned a much larger and complete specimen.

Underground in brick vaulted cellars ran a maze of passageways, tradesmen's shops and private baths for the use of the workers (cold, free; hot, one penny).

In 1847–50 a church, St John the Evangelist, was constructed behind Temple Mill to a Gothic design by George Gilbert Scott.

All the extra yarn produced was turned into thread, and no cloth was ever woven, as had also been planned, because of the slump in demand for finished products in the 1840s.

The flax spinners of Leeds then lost their competitive edge as free trade meant that they could no longer compete with their counterparts in Ireland, France and Belgium.

The Leeds Mercury published an article contrasting the poverty and insecurity of a worker's life with the spending and luxury of the Marshall family.

[4] The Marshall firm continued in business longer than most of its Leeds competitors, eventually closing in 1886, although it made a loss in twenty one out of the last forty years of its existence.

They left the premises without having done any serious mischief, and then proceeded to the mill of Messrs. Titley, Tatham and Walker, Water Lane, which they were engaged in stopping when Prince George with the Lancers came up at full speed and formed in a line in Camp Field.

[13] A planning application dated July 2005 proposed to partly demolish, refurbish, and extend the mill to form a retail centre, offices, cafes, 75 flats and parking.

[14][15] English Heritage advised on a strategy for repairs; their spokesman said that the building was "probably the finest example of a carved stone elevation in the whole region".

[19] The new buyer, CEG, gave an estimate of £35 million for the restoration works in June 2019, with the building forming part of plans for regeneration of the South Bank of Leeds.

[25][26] In late 2009 the building was opened as an arts centre, with an initial exhibition and tour as part of Leeds Light Night on 9 October.