K6 Telephone Kiosk

WYLYE

1183/0/10005 HIGH STREET 02-NOV-10 K6 TELEPHONE KIOSK

II K6 telephone kiosk

DESCRIPTION: The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the 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 intact and in fair condition, although the paint is flaking badly in some places (2009).

The kiosk is situated in what looks to be a purpose-built nook in front of the telephone exchange, at a crossroads in the southern part of this picturesque village. Immediately to the south is a small unlisted church, and across the road approximately 20m to the east stands Riverdale Cottage (Grade II). Immediately to the east of this is another cottage, also listed at Grade II ('Cottage to the South of Riverdale Cottage'). The White Cottage, also Grade II, stands on the opposite side of the road from these, approximately 50m to the south east of the kiosk.

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 Wylye, Wiltshire, is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It has a visual relationship with three listed buildings, one of which is particularly strong * It has a contextual relationship with the building directly in front of which it stands * It stands in an exceptionally picturesque setting within the village * It is a representative example within a village setting of this important C20 industrial design