Summary

A 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 generally in good condition, and largely intact. The paving on which it stands has partially sunk to one side, leaving the kiosk leaning slightly out of perpendicular.

The kiosk stands prominently in the centre of this small settlement, on the roadside, within the Nympsfield Conservation Area. It is situated immediately in front of the Grade II listed Street Farmhouse, and its adjacent barn (Grade II) and shelter sheds (Grade II).

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 Nympsfield is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* It is an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of neoclassical forms for a modern technological function
* It is a good example of the type, situated at the heart of the village and its conservation area, with close visual relationships to three nearby buildings, each listed at Grade II

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26675901

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

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings