Telephone kiosk at 69 Knockanroe Road, Artea, Cookstown

A K6 type telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, dating from sometime between 1935 and circa 1953. The kiosk is located in the garden of 69 Knockanroe Road in the small hamlet of Artea, approximately 4.5 kilometres east of Cookstown. The property itself served as the local post office for much of the 20th century.

The kiosk is constructed of cast-iron and painted red. It features the characteristic Tudor crown motif displayed on each elevation above a glazed panel inscribed 'TELEPHONE'. The door opens to the east, and the south side is blank. The glazing appears to be original. The interior contains a card-operated metal payphone dating from approximately the 1990s, with a shelf and bracket for directories positioned beside it.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the K6 model in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Its compact size and cast-iron construction with teak door made it easily mass-produced. The design developed from Scott's earlier models: the K2, introduced in 1926, and the K3, introduced in 1929. Distribution throughout the United Kingdom began in 1936, and the K6 became the most successful and widespread kiosk type ever introduced, with approximately 60,000 examples placed across the country. Around 8,000 were installed under the Jubilee Concession, which permitted towns and villages with a post office to apply for a kiosk. A further 1,000 were installed over 12 years under the Tercentenary Concession, celebrating the Post Office's 300th anniversary, for local authorities paying a five-year subscription of £4.

Following Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, a minor design alteration occurred: the Tudor crown motif was replaced with St. Edward's crown. From 1955, kiosks manufactured for Scotland featured the Crown of Scotland, with a slot in the fascia allowing either crown version to be inserted into all models manufactured from that date onwards. Production of the K6 continued until 1968, when the more modernist K8, designed by Bruce Martin, was introduced.

This kiosk remains fully operational and represents an increasingly rare surviving example of this iconic street furniture type, all the more notable in its intact, working condition.