Telephone Kiosk

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A square plan, freestanding K6 telephone kiosk, built to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's standardised design of 1935. The presence of an ‘inserted’ St Edward’s crown cypher indicates a 1955 to 1968 model, and evidence suggests it was installed in 1956, The construction, painted red, is cast iron with a hardwood door with glazing to three of the elevations and a solid panel to the fourth (E). Although the original glass has been largely replaced with Perspex glazing, the kiosk is otherwise structurally sound.
The kiosk is in a rural location adjacent to 50 Grange Road, near Cookstown.

Roof: Cast-iron
RWG: None
Walling: Cast-iron, painted
Windows: Single pane with glazing bars

Historical information

The presence of a ‘inserted’ St Edward’s crown on this kiosk indicates that it is likely to have been installed here sometime between 1955 and 1968 (see general information below.) This ties in with a report in the Mid-Ulster Mail of December 1955 ‘that the Post Office authorities had agreed to erect a telephone kiosk at Collins of Grange before March next’. Later newspaper evidence suggests that ‘Collins of Grange’ is a reference to the present 50 Grange Road, all of which suggests that this kiosk was placed here in or around early to mid-1956.

The inclusion of a kiosk in this vicinity had been a long time in planning, having been first recommended to the Post Office by the Association of Rural Councils in or not long after August 1950 along with a number of others in the Cookstown hinterland at Edernagh, Killycurragh, Slatequarry and Tullyroan. In July 1953 it was reported that their introduction within several of these locations had been postponed ‘owing to the large number of telephone poles required’. Cookstown Rural Council pressed the case for a Grange kiosk once again in May the following year and it was likely in response to this that in July 1955 the GPO gave notice of the placing of ‘telegraphic lines’ and posts along various local roads ‘to the residence of Mr. S.A. Collins, Grange’, with the establishment of the kiosk following within several months afterwards.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON K6 KIOSKS The K6 model was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Constructed in cast-iron with a teak door, compact in size and easily mass-produced, the design of the K6 was developed from Scott’s previous telephone kiosk models, the larger K2 (introduced in 1926) and K3 (1929). It was distributed throughout the UK from 1936 and represents the most successful and populous type of kiosk to be introduced with some 60,000 being placed around the country. About 8,000 of these were installed as part of the 'Jubilee Concession', which allowed towns and villages with a post office to apply for a kiosk. A year later, under the 'Tercentenary Concession' celebrating the Post Office's 300th anniversary, a further 1,000 kiosks were installed over 12 years for local authorities willing to pay a five-year subscription of £4. After 1949 this was succeeded by the ‘Rural Allocation scheme’, under which kiosks were placed in out-of-town areas upon the recommendation of a rural authority.

A minor alteration in the K6 design occurred following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when the ‘Tudor’ crown motif was replaced with the St. Edward’s crown. From 1955 the Crown of Scotland was used for kiosks in that country, a slot in the fascia allowing either version to be inserted into all of those manufactured from this date. The model continued in production until 1968 when the more modernist K8, designed by Bruce Martin, was introduced, though some K6s do seem to have installed after this date.

References – Primary sources
1 ‘Mid-Ulster Mail’ – 19 August 1950, p.4; 24 May 1952, p.5; 11 July 1953, p.3; 15 May 1954, p.2; 30 July 1955, p.4; 17 December 1955, p.8; 22 February 1974, p.4; 11 November 1980, p.16
2 OS map, IG sheet 124-16 - 1976

Secondary Sources
3 N. Johannessen, ‘Telephone Boxes’ Shire Publications (Princes Risborough, 1994)
4 The Telephone Box - http://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/ (accessed 8 September 2025)
5 GPO - KIOSK No. 6 (K6) - https://www.britishtelephones.com/k6.htm (accessed 8 September 2025)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
Z. Rarity
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This structurally intact telephone kiosk designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott is a 1955 to 1968 K6 model, as indicated by the presence of a ‘inserted’ St Edward’s crown cypher. This iconic piece of street furniture, once common but almost entirely replaced by modern mobile phone use, is now increasingly rare.
It is a good example of the post 1949 ‘Rural Allocation scheme’, under which kiosks were placed in out-of-town areas upon the recommendation of the rural authority.