Description

437/0/10004

ST MARY IN THE MARSH
K6 Telephone Kiosk

17-APR-09

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 in need of repainting (2009), and its white display signs are faded and discoloured.

The kiosk stands in a prominent location in the south west corner of this small village. It is situated in the car park of the Star Inn (Grade II), and stands approximately 50m to the south of the Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade I). Partly owing to the lack of other buildings in the vicinity, the kiosk has a very strong visual relationship with both the pub and the church.

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 St Mary in the Marsh, Shepway, Kent, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has a strong visual relationship with two listed buildings
* It stands in close proximity to a Grade I listed building
* It is a representative example within a village setting of this important C20 industrial design

TR0649427928

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk in St Mary in the Marsh, Shepway, Kent, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has a strong visual relationship with two listed buildings
* It stands in close proximity to a Grade I listed building
* It is a representative example within a village setting of this important C20 industrial design

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672409

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)