Visit the Phone Box

Is that a giraffe hiding in the Phone Box?

Yes – the giraffe houses a book swap stand. Feel free to browse and borrow.

A short walk along Main Street from the War Memorial, this class K6 telephone kiosk was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880 to 1960) whose designs included Liverpool Cathedral, Battersea Power Station, Cambridge University Library, and closer to home he was a consultant on the design of The Forth Road Bridge.

The K6 was produced from 1936 to 1968, and installed in almost every town in the UK as well as Bermuda, Malta and Gibraltar.

“Our” box is now an information booth where you can pick up tourist leaflets, and books.

There is another book swap facility in the Railway Station Exhibition Gallery.

A Listed Building

The kiosk is a Category: B Listed building

Description:

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, 1935; produced 1936-1968. Standard K6 telephone kiosk comprising 3 sides of lying-pane glazing (8 high) with narrow margin lights (one glazed side with cup handle aligned with 4th/5th pane forming door) and a blind cast-iron panel to rear holding telephone and shelf. Rectangular glass opal with TELEPHONE in black lettering to each side with vent below and central embossed crown surmounting; rising into 4 segmental-headed pediments terminating in a saucer dome. Cast-iron, painted Post Office red.

Notes:

The K6 is also known as the Jubilee Kiosk, commemorating the Silver Jubilee of King George V. It was at this time the GPO set up a committee to redesign the telephone kiosk for mass production, with a Jubilee Concession Scheme providing one kiosk for each village with a Post Office. Scott was asked to design the new kiosk in March 1935, and after approval by the Royal Fine Art Commission, the K6 went into production in 1936. The new K6 was constructed from cast-iron and painted Post Office red (in 1924 the same commission had decided on the colour red for the kiosk, as it was “easy to spot and gave an authoritative and official character.”). It stands 8 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 13 hundredweight. The new box was based on Scott’s 1924 K2 kiosk which had been classical in character with small pane glazing, a reeded Grecian surround and a “Soanian” dome (believed to have been inspired by that on Sir John Soane’s tomb or the lantern above the mausoleum at the Dulwich Picture Gallery). Aware of new architectural trends, Scott applied a modernistic style to his older box. The Grecian fluting was removed but the Soanian dome remained, as did the curved corners (which added strength to the cast-iron panels, now designed to be bolted together and erected in a day). The most noticeable change was the glazing; the horizontal bars were moved side ways to create a broad central light with narrow margin lights. This was to improve visibility and resemble ‘moderne’ architecture. The design of the box was so popular, it remained in production until 1968 when it was superseded by the K8 by Bruce Martin (the K7, by Neville Conder, was never widely used). Listed as a good example of a K6 telephone kiosk in a key location within North Queensferry’s Conservation Area.