Telephone Kiosk, near 14 Hilden View, Tullynacross Road, Tullynacross, Lisburn BT27 5SF

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A ‘K6’ telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, which appears to date from 1954. The kiosk is located within semi-rural surroundings, onTullynacross Road, in front of a long row of late Victorian terraced houses ('Hilden View'), approximately 2.5miles NE of Lisburn.

The Kiosk has the usual cast-iron body painted red, with what appears to be largely replacement glazing (apart from some smaller side panes that seem to be original.) Each elevation displays the 'Tudor' crown motif over a glazed ‘TELEPHONE’ panel. The door opens to the southeast and the blank 'phone' side faces southwest, into the road. Close to ground level on the latter side there is a maker's mark that reads: McFARLANE & Co Ltd, SARACEN FOUNDRY, GLASGOW.

Historical information

On the face on it, as this telephone kiosk has a 'Tudor' crown motif, it can be dated to sometime between 1936 and 1953, the period during which this particular version of the ‘K6’ type was in use (see below). However, a newspaper report dating from 15 May 1954 states that although a kiosk was 'to be provided' for Tullynacross 'eighteen months ago', it had not yet appeared, but had been requested again by Lisburn Rural District Council. Therefore, it is likely that it actually dates from later in 1954, or very shortly afterwards. The fact that it is of a pre-1953 variant could indicate that some of these were utilsed after this date (there may have been a stockpile), or that this individual kiosk had previously been set aside for this location, as the newspaper report coild be imterpreted as indicating. The first available OS map on which the kiosk is shown is that dated 1963.

This particular kiosk was manufactured by McFarlane & Co Ltd, of the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow.

The neighbouring terrace - 'Hilden View' - was built between 1889 and 1891, as housing for workers at Barbour's Mill at nearby Hilden.

THE K6 KIOSK The K6 model itself 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 paying a five-year subscription of £4.

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.

Sources - Primary Sources
1 'Lisburn Herald, and Antrim and Down Adverrtiser' - 15 May 1954
2 OS map, sheet 165-3 -1963

Secondary Sources
3 N. Johannessen, ‘Telephone Boxes’ Shire Publications (Princes Risborough 1994).
4 The Telephone Box - http://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/ (accessed 3 September 2021)

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
Z. Rarity
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A largely intact telephone kiosk of the K6 type originally designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, with this particular example probably installed here in 1954. The kiosk is located within semi-rural surroundings, onTullynacross Road, in front of a long row of late Victorian terraced houses ('Hilden View'), approximately 2.5miles NE of Lisburn. Once common, these iconic pieces of street furniture are now increasingly rare, and those still in working order particularly so.