Telephone Kiosk, 23 Main Street, Brookeborough, BT94 4EZ

Telephone Kiosk, 23 Main Street, Brookeborough

This pre-1953 K6 telephone kiosk was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The kiosk has remained in its original location at 23 Main Street, Brookeborough, largely intact and sits prominently opposite a Grade B2 listed house.

The K6 was developed from Scott's earlier telephone kiosk models, the larger K2 (introduced in 1926) and K3 (1929). Constructed from cast-iron with a teak door, it was compact in size and easily mass-produced. The design was distributed throughout the UK from 1936 and became the most successful and populous type of kiosk introduced, with some 60,000 being placed around the country. About 8,000 of these were installed as part of the 'Jubilee Concession', which allowed towns and villages with a post office to apply for a kiosk. A year later, under the 'Tercentenary Concession' celebrating the Post Office's 300th anniversary, a further 1,000 kiosks were installed over 12 years for local authorities willing to pay a five-year subscription of £4. After 1949, this was succeeded by the 'Rural Allocation scheme', under which kiosks were placed in out-of-town areas upon the recommendation of a rural authority. The model continued in production until 1968 when the more modernist K8, designed by Bruce Martin, was introduced.

The kiosk is of cast-iron construction standing on a concrete base. It features a domical roof with a Tudor Crown insignia in bas relief aligned centrally to the top of each elevation. Directly beneath is signage displaying 'Telephone' in black serif font on a white background. The margined 1x8 paned window is made up of mostly perspex with some missing panes. The kiosk is painted red.

A minor alteration in the K6 design occurred following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when the 'Tudor' crown motif was replaced with the St. Edward's crown. This kiosk retains the Tudor crown variety, suggesting it was installed here sometime after 1936 but before 1953, which is supported by a 'TCB' (telephone call box) marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1958.

The kiosk has an important role in the social and cultural development of the local area, having been the only means of communication to further locations. During its lifetime, the kiosk has adapted to keep pace with changes in society and technology, including upgrading of equipment and vandal-proofing measures. A possible replacement door handle and large proportion of windows replaced with perspex represent necessary adjustments that do not compromise the building's overall architectural and historical significance. The kiosk has become increasingly rare due to modern mobile phone use, making this example an iconic piece of street furniture that illustrates changing values and the effects of change over time.