K6 Telephone Kiosk

1917/0/10066 04-MAR-09

IDEN CHURCH LANE K6 telephone kiosk

II

DESCRIPTION: The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in door 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 is not in good condition currently (2008), the display signs above the doors being faded and discoloured, and the red paint flaking in many places. It retains glass windows.

It stands at a village crossroads, in front of two listed buildings: Bell Cottage (Grade II) approximately 20m to the south west, and the Bell Inn (Grade II) approximately 25m to the south east. Additionally, on the opposite side of the crossroads, is Park Farm (Grade II), approximately 60m to the north west. The telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with these three listed buildings collectively.

HISTORY: The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by 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. 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 many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The K6 telephone kiosk in Iden, situated in a conservaton area, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reason: * This telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with three listed buildings collectively, two of which it stands before frontally. It therefore merits listing, despite its relatively poor condition.