Telephone Kiosk 30 Churchtown Road Ballyculter Upper Downpatrick Co. Down BT30 7AT

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A ‘K6’ telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott dating between 1936 and 1953 located on Churchtown Road in the rural hamlet of Churchtown near Strangford.
The telephone kiosk manufactured at the Carron Company in Falkirk is an early K6 model indicated by the integral Tudor Crown cipher (pre-1953). The kiosk is approximately 8ft 3in/251cm high and 3ft 5in/91cm wide and has the usual cast-iron body painted red with small-paned sides and door and a shallow domed roof.
Sited at the end of a footpath, alongside a Post Box, the kiosk faces NW onto Churchtown Road. The rear solid panel Elevation abuts the gable of 30 Churchtown Road. The remaining glazed elevations are now largely replaced Perspex. The upper section of each elevation displays the Tudor crown motif of the sovereign above a glazed ‘TELEPHONE’ panel. The kiosk retains its working telephone apparatus and leather door straps.
Roof: Cast-iron
Walling Cast-iron
Window: Perspex
Door: Hardwood
RWG: N/A

Historical information

This telephone kiosk can probably be dated to sometime between 1936 and 1955, the period during which this particular version of the ‘K6’ type was in use (see below). The first available OS map on which it is shown is that dated 1976.

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 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 been installed after this date and into the 1970s.

Sources - Primary Sources
1 OS map IG sheet 225-03 - 1976

Secondary Sources
2 N. Johannessen, ‘Telephone Boxes’ Shire Publications (Princes Risborough 1994).
3 The Telephone Box - http://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/ (accessed 3 September 2021)
4 GPO - KIOSK No. 6 (K6) (britishtelephones.com) (accessed 24 August 2023)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This telephone kiosk is of standard K6 design and is proportioned to accommodate a single standing user. Although steel would have been in common use when it was manufactured, cast-iron was used in preference owing to its longevity and ease of maintenance. It has a prominent setting, in the hamlet and apart from its internal fittings and replacement glazing, this kiosk is as originally designed by the prominent architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Prior to the inception of mobile phones, it would have been of social value to the inhabitants of the hamlet and surrounding area, and it continues to serve as a local landmark.