K6 Telephone Kiosk

MELCHBOURNE AND YIELDEN

50/0/10005 HIGH STREET 22-JUL-08 Yelden (West side) K6 Telephone Kiosk

GV II Telephone kiosk of K6 type, designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and made by various contractors.

MATERIALS: Cast iron.

PLAN: Square in plan with domical roof.

EXTERIOR: Painted red. There are relief crowns in the segmental upper sections on each side, above glazed panels bearing the word 'TELEPHONE'. The door and two sides are glazed, each having eight horizontal strips of glass with narrow margin lights.

HISTORY: The first standardised telephone kiosks, known as the K1, were designed in 1921. In 1924 the Postmaster General held a competition to find a better design. The product was the K2, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, architect of Battersea Power Station and Liverpool Cathedral. His Neoclassical design, influenced by the work of the Regency architect Sir John Soane, consisted of a cast iron cubicle with a domical roof. A perforated crown (symbol of the General Post Office) was set within the upper panels on each side. Subsequent versions were variations on this theme. The most common survivor is the K6, designed by Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. This version was smaller than the K2 and generally painted red, with the crowns applied in relief rather than perforated. It had eight strips of glass with narrow margin lights on each side, whereas the K2 had 6 x 3 panes on each side.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The K6 telephone kiosk on the High Street in Yelden is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * It is an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of Neoclassical forms for a modern technological function * It has group value with two listed buildings in the immediate vicinity and is in a heritage location