100 years of the British phone box: a design icon on screen
Ring in the centenary celebrations for the iconic telephone box with a round-up of some of its most memorable cinematic supporting roles.
22 May 2021
Local Hero (1983)
Making its first appearance on Britain’s streets 100 years ago, the telephone box is often celebrated as one of our quintessential landmarks. On film, however, it tends to take on a more subversive role. As a space of secrecy for illicit negotiations or a means to conceal conversations, the on-screen phone box is a gateway to crime and desire.
It’s all a far cry from the intentions behind Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s K2 design with its bright vermillion tint, which replaced the original 1921 design in 1924 and was intended to make the booths stand out in case of emergencies.
Two phone boxes are on the market on Old Christchurch Road (Rightmove). Known as K6 red phone boxes or Jubilee kiosks, they were introduced to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of King George V in 1935. The K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott - around 60,000 examples were installed across Britain, which is why the K6 has become the most iconic phone box in the country. More than 11,000 K6s remain and they are the most visible examples of the eight kiosk types. The K6 kiosk is constructed of cast-iron sections, bolted together, standing on a concrete base it is 8 3 high and three feet square.
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The Blitz destroyed many of Britain s best-loved buildings – including the Queen s Hall
Credit: London Stereoscopic Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Eighty years ago on Monday, London experienced its worst night of the Blitz. Between 11pm on May 10 1941 and 5.50am the following morning, 505 Luftwaffe bombers destroyed substantial stretches of the capital, using 711 tons of high explosives and almost 2,400 incendiaries. They attacked not just what were by then the familiar targets of the docklands, but landmarks of the West End. In human terms, the cost was appalling: 1,436 dead; more than 2,000 injured. Of the many buildings badly damaged or destroyed, three were of the highest cultural importance: the House of Commons, St Clement Danes Church (
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The famous British telephone boxes were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect behind some of the most well known British buildings such as Battersea Power Station, the Tate Modern and Liverpool s Anglican Cathedral.
The K2 box is so small the Rightmove listing offers no floor plan and the advert states: Own an iconic piece of British heritage located in the City. Run your own business, advertising potential or alternative uses STTP. Electricity is connected.
Included in the sale price will be a new lick of paint for the buyer.
Similar phone boxes have previously been turned into libraries and shops.