K6 telephone kiosk, Conistone, Conistone with Kilnsey, North Yorkshire

Entry Name: K6 telephone kiosk, Conistone

Listing Date: 1 November 2017

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1448680

ID on this website: 101448680

Location: Conistone, North Yorkshire, BD23

County: North Yorkshire

District: Craven

Civil Parish: Conistone with Kilnsey

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Tagged with: Telephone booth

Summary

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. The telephone kiosk is complete, but with modernised internal equipment.

The telephone kiosk is sited at the centre of the small village of Conistone, on the west side of the village green. It is placed adjacent to the gable end of the Renshaw Farm Cottage, less than 10m north east of Renshaw Farm House, less than 15m south east of Topham’s Farmhouse, and overlooked by Maypole Cottage (the former post office) which is less than 20m to the north east, all of these buildings being Grade II listed.

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 significant English architects of the C20; his many celebrated commissions include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool and Battersea power station. The K2 and K6 telephone kiosk 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 of English streetscapes.

Reasons for Listing

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

Architectural interest:

* As an iconic example of industrial design, showing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of Neo-classical forms for a modern technological function.

Group value:

* For its strong visual relationship with four adjacent listed buildings, one of which is the former village post office.

External Links

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