Lush

Temple Lushington Moore is not a great name. It is a fantastic name.

If you are seeking verification of its authenticity where should you be looking?

Try an Ordnance Survey sheet for a National Park because it sounds like it should be written against some wild, open and uninhabited space. It could also be mistaken for the name of an ancient monument. It may be worth an each way bet if found amongst the runners and riders at Kempton or Newmarket racecourses. Utterance of the name in a much shortened form may come from a baseball hat wearing street-wise teenager -"Lush".

The name itself could spark a long debate over the well worn theme of nature versus nurture. Obviously doting parents at the Christening Font will have considered long and hard a suitable name for their child. It may have consist of longstanding family names handed down respectfully or be a hyphenated amalgamation of two great families. Whatever the genetic,socio-economic or just fashionable origins it is plain to see that someone with such a grand name must have been destined to acheive great things and be remembered for such. In that way a name may be incidental to success but in this particular case it will have assisted greatly.

The man and his three barelled name was born in 1856 of Irish descent and through marriage settled in, and carried out most of work as an Architect in East Yorkshire. His best known commissions can be spotted by a Gothic Revivalist Style in many ecclesiatical buildings including Parish Churches and Rectory's.

I first came across his work during a Survey of a grand and striking old house in one of the rural villages in the Holderness area towards the North Sea Coast. Set back from the main through road it was immediately evident that this was not a standard house by its appearance, scale and construction. Built in 1892 in a Wrenaissance Style and at a cost of £2720 ( by todays money in excess of £166,000) it had served as the Rectory until economics and maintenance costs forced it out of the Diocese property budget.

It had been in private ownership for some years but had not been diluted or compromised by any works recommended by Readers Digest and the long driveway approach will certainly have deterred salespersons from cladding, double glazing and loft conversion companies. The brickwork was perfect, close bonded headers but done in the expensive way by being individually cut so as to create the illusion of a solid wall but upon detailed investigation actually encorporating a narrow cavity onto the inner leaf. For the late Victorian period it was as technologically advanced as the Space Shuttle to a horse and cart.

Such resistance to dampness and seasonal coldness had been paramount to maintaining its condition in what could be an exposed location with not much in the way of a windbreak between the coast and The Ural mountains of western Russia. The owners, reluctantly selling up, proudly informed me of the pedigree of the house and so began my interest  in the works of Temple Lushington Moore. I was not alone. The owners continued to tell me of the phenomena, regularly at weekends and sometimes during the week when there would be someone loitering at the five bar gate on the driveway, notebook and 35mm camera in hand. After some reticence, before realising that the house was inhabited, but then with confident strides the doorbell would be rung followed by a request to ,please, take a few snaps of the outside for their collection. The devotees of Temple Lushington Moore would travel from all over the UK and Europe to pay homage to his portfolio.

Within a few years my work had taken me to other wonderful residences and Churches through the East Riding by the man and I was never disappointed by the experience and indeed often fascinated and captivated by fine detail in design and construction that ensured the properties , in particular the former Rectory's, continued to function and excel in providing for the lifestyle demands of modern living. 

Craftsmen and artists, as they could rightly be addressed thrived on the inspirational and classic visions of Temple Lushington Moore.Their skills were certainly required in the refurbishments and renovations of 45 churches and all due attention required to stained glass, masonry and carved wood features. Wealthy patrons and sponsors financed the building of 3 brand new churches in the late Victorian period. Notable work can be seen amongst the Sledmere Estate and at The Treasurers House, York.

In his later years there were some fallings out with those who had championed his style and panache. Competing firms of  Architects working to commissions more dictated by austerity conditions prevailed. The  age of Victorian Ecclesiastical grandeur and wealth was definitely coming to an end. Temple Lushington Moore died in 1920.

He left, behind the name, a great legacy.