K6 Telephone Kiosk

COLDRIDGE

1768/0/10002 ADJ TO OLD POST OFFICE, VILLAGE GREEN 20-OCT-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 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 display signs remain in good condition but there are large areas of flaking red paint.

The kiosk stands against the west wall of the former Post Office (Grade II) at the east end of the village green. Approximately 5m north east of the kiosk, and visible simultaneously with it when viewed from the green, stands the Grade I St Matthew's Church. On the green, approximately 35m east of the telephone kiosk, there is an unlisted war memorial.

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 Coldridge, Devon, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It has a strong visual and contextual relationship with a Grade II listed building * It is in close proximity to and has a visual relationship with a Grade I listed building