K6 Telephone Kiosk, Junction of High Street and School Lane, Wargrave

Adj Wargrave House, Jcn High Street & School Lane, Wargrave, Berkshire, RG10 8AA

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Overview

K6 telephone kiosk, erected to standardised designs by Giles Gilbert Scott of 1935. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1479354
Date first listed:: 05-May-2022
List Entry Name:: K6 Telephone Kiosk, Junction of High Street and School Lane, Wargrave
Statutory Address:: Adj Wargrave House, Jcn High Street & School Lane, Wargrave, Berkshire, RG10 8AA

29th Dec 2023. ©Paul Bottomley : thek6project.co.uk — Uploaded by thek6project.co.uk This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1479354
Date first listed:: 05-May-2022
List Entry Name:: K6 Telephone Kiosk, Junction of High Street and School Lane, Wargrave
Location Description:: K6 Kiosk is adjacent to Wargrave House which stands at the junction of the High Street and School Lane in Wargrave.
Statutory Address 1:: Adj Wargrave House, Jcn High Street & School Lane, Wargrave, Berkshire, RG10 8AA

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Adj Wargrave House, Jcn High Street & School Lane, Wargrave, Berkshire, RG10 8AA

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Wokingham (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Wargrave
National Grid Reference:: SU7855378567

Summary

K6 telephone kiosk, erected to standardised designs by Giles Gilbert Scott of 1935.

Reasons for Designation

The K6 telephone kiosk on School Lane (around 20m to the east of the junction with the High Street) in Wargrave is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an iconic design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, one of the leading British architects of the period;

Group value:

* for its strong visual relationship with the Grade II-listed Wargrave House to the west (List entry 11118181) and the wall to Ousleys running to the south (List entry 1303550). The kiosk additionally has a contextual relationship with The Bull public house (Grade II; List entry 1303693), at the junction with the High Street (around 20m to the west).

History

The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. It 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 neoclassical inspiration. The K6 was more streamlined aesthetically, more compact and more cost-effective to mass produce. The K6 kiosk in Wargrave bears the King’s crown insignia, dating it to before 1952.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was one of the most important British architects of the C20; his many celebrated buildings include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool (listed Grade I; List entry 1361681) and Battersea power station (Grade II*; List entry 1357620). 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 K6 kiosks 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.

Details

The telephone kiosk on School Lane, adjacent to the junction with High Street in Wargrave, is a standardised K6 design. It is made of cast iron, painted red with horizontal bands for glazing in the door and sides. The crowns to the top panels are applied, not perforated. There are rectangular white ‘TELEPHONE’ display signs beneath the shallow-curved roof. The kiosk retains its door, signage and applied crowns, though much of the glazing to the north and south sides has been broken (at the time of assessment in 2022). The internal equipment has been modernised.

The kiosk faces to the west, positioned on the south side of School Lane. It is approximately 20m from the junction with the High Street (to the west). Clustered around the junction are several Grade II-listed buildings: adjacent to the west is Wargrave House (List entry 11118181), running to the south of the kiosk is a wall between Wargrave House and Ousleys (List entry 1303550), and on the western side of the High Street junction is The Bull public house (List entry 1303693).

Sources

None.

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.