K6 at SY 91644 7984
Main Road, Kimmeridge
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1407576
- Date first listed:
- 20-Mar-2012
- List Entry Name:
- K6 at SY 91644 7984
- Statutory Address:
- Main Road, Kimmeridge
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1407576
- Date first listed:
- 20-Mar-2012
- List Entry Name:
- K6 at SY 91644 7984
- Location Description:
- The telephone box is located at SY 91644 79843, immediately to the north of No. 30 in Kimmeridge
- Statutory Address 1:
- Main Road, Kimmeridge
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Main Road, Kimmeridge
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Kimmeridge
- National Grid Reference:
- SY9164479843
Summary
K6 Telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
Reasons for Designation
The telephone box in Kimmeridge is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design: an unusual survival of a kiosk with a grey paint scheme, adopted for areas of natural and architectural beauty;
* Historic interest: an iconic example of industrial design, showing Giles Gilbert Scott's adaptation of Neoclassical forms for a modern technological function;
* Group value: it has strong visual relationship with the Grade II listed former post office opposite.
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.
The standard colour used for telephone kiosks in rural and urban areas, known as Post Office Red 539, was selected to match the colour of Post Office letter boxes. However, in certain areas of natural and architectural beauty where objection was raised to the standard red, one alterative colour was permitted - dark battleship grey with glazing bars picked out in red. It is likely that the grey paint scheme was selected for the K6 in Kimmeridge, which is situated within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so that the kiosk would be of a similar colour to the Purbeck stone used in the construction of most of the local buildings.
Details
The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, 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. This kiosk is painted 'battleship grey'. It retains its glass windows and has modernised internal equipment.
Sources
Websites
The red Telephone Kiosk, accessed from http://www.shapesoftime.net/pages/viewpage.asp?uniqid=11748
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 16-Jun-2026 at 03:15:15.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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