K6 Telephone Kiosk

CHERINGTON

386/0/10016 K6 Telephone kiosk 29-OCT-10

GV 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. The kiosk is generally in good condition, and largely intact.

The kiosk stands prominently in the centre of this small settlement, on the roadside, opposite the village green. Although situated immediately outside a mid-C20 village hall, it has a close visual relationship with a number of listed buildings: a municipal drinking fountain (Grade II); Nos. 9-11 Cherington (Grade II); the former Cherington public house, now Nos. 14 and 16 Cherington (Grade II), and Westside House (Grade II). These buildings form the heart of the village, on or surrounding the green. The telephone kiosk has a good visual relationship with these listed buildings collectively.

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 Cherington is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It is an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of neoclassical forms for a modern technological function * It is a good example of the type, situated at the heart of the village and its conservation area, with close visual relationships to four nearby buildings, each listed at Grade II