Two of an increasingly rare number of bright red phone boxes in Northern Ireland have been given legal protection.
The Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division (HED) has ensured another two of the K6 kiosks are protected for future generations by listing one in Castlewellan Village and another in a rural location between Portaferry and Kearney.
Both kiosks can be dated from sometime between 1955-1968.
The K6 or ‘Jubilee Box’ features as a design classic in the London Design Museum and even though it is rarely used today, in the popular mind, “the red telephone box is still a classic part of London’s identity”. The K6 model telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V.
It was constructed in cast-iron with a teak door, compact in size, easily mass-produced and represents the most successful and populous type of kiosk to be introduced, with some 60,000 being placed around the UK — and even as far afield as Malta and Barbados.
The design still enjoys widespread popular favour with examples being retained and often re-located all over the world.
However, the explosion of mobile phones in recent decade means they are being used much less often, and many have been removed from use.
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