K6 telephone kiosk

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BRIGHTWELL BALDWIN WATLINGTON K6 telephone kiosk

03-JUL-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 had modernised internal equipment but this has been removed, most likely as an act of vandalism.

The kiosk is located on the main road running through the village, adjacent to the Grade II listed Old Forge. On the opposite side of the road, approximately 15m to the south, stands Brightwell Farm and cowhouses (Grade II), and approximately 25m south west of the kiosk stands Brightwell Farmhouse (Grade II). Less than 100m to the west are situated the Grade I St Bartholemew's Church and the Grade II Lord Nelson Inn. The telephone kiosk therefore has a strong visual relationship with three listed buildings, and stands in proximity to a Grade I listed building.

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.

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