Summary
K6 telephone kiosk, designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
Description
K6 telephone kiosk, designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
The K6 is a standardised design made of cast-iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the doors and sides and with the crowns situated on the top panels being applied not perforated. There are rectangular white display signs, reading TELEPHONE beneath the shallow curved roof. It has modernised internal equipment.
It stands on the eastern side of the Main Street, on the southern approach to Langcliffe Village Green. There are two Grade II-listed buildings in the vicinity: Cockhouse and Grisedale, the former village post office, approximately 12m to the north-east, and Langcliffe Hall, stables and gate piers, approximately 56m to the south-west. The telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with these two listed buildings.
History
The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 for the General Post Office, on the occasion of King George V's Silver Jubilee. The K6 was a development from his earlier highly successful K2 telephone kiosk design of 1924, of Neo-classical inspiration. The K6 was more streamlined aesthetically, more compact and more cost-effective to mass produce. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was one of the most important of modern British architects; his many celebrated commissions include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool and Battersea Power Station. The K2 and K6 telephone kiosks can be said to represent a very thoughtful adaptation of architectural tradition to contemporary technological requirements. Well over 70,000 K6s were eventually produced. In the 1960s many were replaced with far plainer kiosk types but remaining examples of the K6 continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.
Reasons for Listing
The K6 Telephone Kiosk in Langcliffe is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaption of neoclassical forms for a modern technological function.
Historic interest:
* the K6 telephone kiosk was designed to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935 by the eminent architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, further developing his successful K2 telephone kiosk design of 1924.
Group value:
* for its contribution to the streetscape and its strong visual relationship with the Grade II listed Cockhouse and Grisedale and Langcliffe Hall, stables and gate piers and for its contextual relationship with Cockhouse and Grisedale, which was the former village Post Office.
External Links
External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.
Recommended Books
Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
[(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)