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 transom signs, reading TELEPHONE beneath the shallow-curved roof, the glazed transom sign on the NE elevation appears to have been removed. It has modernised internal equipment* and retains its glass windows.

The kiosk is situated to the S of Denbury village and faces two listed buildings: Boundary wall of Denbury Manor from Gatehouse to S Entrance with two Summerhouses and Gate Piers (Grade II) 10m to the E, along with Gatehouse, Gatehouse Cottage, Inner Gate and connecting walls 40m W of Denbury Manor (Grade II) which is approximately 40m to the N. The telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with these listed structures collectively.

* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by Sir 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. Sir 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 a new kiosk type. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk in Denbury is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: the K6 kiosk is recognised as an iconic milestone of C20 design;
* Intactness: the kiosk survives largely intact, despite the loss of one of the glazed transom signs;
* Group value: the kiosk has a strong visual relationship with two listed buildings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478279

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

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)