K6 Telephone Kiosk

TILLINGTON

1899/0/10066 UPPERTON ROAD 26-JAN-10 Upperton (West side) K6 Telephone kiosk

GV 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 generally in good condition currently (2009), although the red paint is fading in some places. It retains glass windows.

It stands at the sharp bend in The Terrace in Upperton at the centre of the village, in front of three listed buildings: Nos 526 and 527 Leconfield Estate (Grade II); Home Farm (Grade) II; and the farm building at Home Farmhouse (Grade II). Additionally, the listed Yeomans (Grade II) and its associated garden wall (Grade II), are situated 12m to the south east and on the opposite corner is Corner Cottage (Grade II), approximately 20m to the north east,. The telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with these six 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 Upperton Road in Tillington, situated in a conservation area, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reason: * This telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with six listed buildings collectively * It is an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of Neoclassical forms for a modern technological function.