K6 Telephone Kiosk

981/0/10075

WARTLING Between Wartling Road and Boreham Lane K6 Telephone Kiosk

20-APR-09

II K6 Telephone Kiosk

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. The kiosk appears to be in good condition (2009).

The kiosk stands on a grassy outcrop at a fork in the road in the centre of the village. It is situated approximately 10m south of Convent House (Grade II) and approximately 10m west of School Farmhouse (Grade II), and forms a strong visual relationship with these two listed buildings collectively. Additionally, the kiosk stands approximately 10m from a post box and adjacent to a four-finger post, making for an aesthetically pleasing collection of street furniture. Also visible in conjunction with the kiosk is the Grade II Lamb Inn Public House, which stands approximately 45m to the south.

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 Wartling, East Sussex, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It has a strong visual relationship with three listed buildings * It has a contextual relationship with other pieces of street furniture, including a post box

TQ6578209259