K6 Telephone Kiosk

1853/0/10005

SOWTON OLD SCHOOL K6 Telephone Kiosk

23-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. It is intact and in good condition (2009).

The kiosk is situated at the side of the main road through the village, adjacent to a row of three listed buildings 11, 12 and 13 Sowton Lane (Grade II). On the opposite side of the road stand St Michael's Church (Grade I), approximately 45m to the south west, and the Old Rectory (Grade II), approximately 50m to the north west. The lack of other buildings in close proximity means that the kiosk has a strong visual relationship with both. Additionally, in the churchyard, approximately 35m to the south west of the kiosk, stand two grade II listed tomb chests. The kiosk can be seen simultaneously with these five listed buildings from various angles, and forms a collective group with them in the centre of the village.

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 Sowton, East Devon, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It has a strong visual relationship with five listed buildings * It is a representative example within a village setting of this important C20 industrial design * It stands in proximity to a Grade I listed church

SX9764392532