Summary

K6 telephone kiosk

Description

MAMHEAD

1519/0/10021

ADJACENT TO HOME FARM

K6 TELEPHONE KIOSK

08-OCT-09

II

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. The kiosk appears to be intact (2009).

This kiosk is located on the eastern side of the main road through this small hamlet. It is situated approximately 20m to the south Fernley (Grade II), and on the opposite side of the road stand 4 Ranges of Farm Buildings at Home Farm (Grade II). The kiosk enjoys a strong visual relationship with these two groups of listed buildings, and together these buildings form a coherent group at the centre of the hamlet.

History

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 Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk in Mamhead, Devon, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has a strong visual relationship with two listed buildings
* It is a representative example in a village setting of this important C20 industrial design

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672633

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)