Well known and respected architect Michael Devenish dies at the age of 66

He was born in Richmond, Surrey, within sight of William Chambers’ pagoda at Kew Gardens. He was educated at St Benedict’s School at Ealing Abbey, and then studied architecture at Kingston Polytechnic. Later he took a mid-career break, and studied for an MPhil in Architectural History under Joseph Rykwert at Cambridge University, teaching at the same time at the Kingston (now University) architectural school. He was very active in Yorkshire planning issues and reviews, working for various committees of the Leeds Civic Trust, assisting Skipton Civic Society where able, campaigning in Skipton for better quality developments and a proper Craven Local Plan. He had been a strong advocate for green and environmental issues since the 1970s. Although committed to conserving fine historic buildings and contexts, and a trenchant critic of poor planning, he always argued for progress and evolution, provided that developments were of high quality. He loved buildings in all their shape and forms, and had a great affection for the buildings, grand and modest, of Yorkshire, and their beautiful stone. In 1992, he joined engineer Ken Stevens and architect Gilbert Ross as a director of CoDA Developments – a multidisciplinary consultancy, and was managing and finance director until his retirement in 2014. He was a fine and rigorous academic historian, and persuaded many clients to commission histories of the buildings that he was working on. In retirement, he produced a number of building histories – one of them - “An Extraordinary Order – the Little Temple at Temple Newsam” being published last year to mark the 200th anniversary of Capability Brown’s birth (online at Parks and Gardens’ website). At the time of his death, he had been finalising research into the architectural history of the remarkable Fountaine’s Hospital almshouses at Linton, near Grassington, and was able, despite his extreme ill-health, to complete the major elements of the research. His wife, Jane Houlton, collaborator in the research, will now be preparing the written report for the Trustees on this research, which has revealed many previously unknown facts about the building and its benefactor Richard Fountaine. Michael’s parents were from Trinidad; his father had trained in London as a surgeon in the 1930s, and the family came to live in England after his father’s service as a trauma surgeon in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War. Michael loved the West Indies and his heritage, and had expert knowledge of the early Trinidadian calypso tradition; his collection of related material will now be passing to the British Library archives.Michael also cared deeply for the Dales, spending much of his spare time in and around Grassington - he had come with trepidation from the warm South in the 1980s when he and his wife returned to her Pennine roots, but he came to see the area as his home. His pleasures were walking, politics, history, ideas, reading and music. He delighted in his strong relationship with Jane, and in their son Louis, born and raised in Skipton, now living in London and working as a consultant in sustainable transport.Michael was a person of much grace, wisdom and sensitivity, combined with an absolute, unmoveable determination and rigour. He died in the Craven Nursing Home, Skipton, after a hard, year-long illness, which he bore with great dignity and humour. Michael will be buried privately at the Tarn Moor memorial woodland in Skipton. A memorial and celebration service will be held at 2pm on Wednesday, August 31 at Herriot’s Hotel, Skipton. All those who knew Michael are very welcome.