London Underground's Grade II Listed Telephone Kiosks

There are four stations, on the London Underground network, that have Grade II listed telephone kiosks on their platforms. These minimalist kiosks are of cast-iron and glass and were installed from 1968.

But, what makes these four so special?

Brief History

The humble telephone kiosk has been in existence, in varying forms, since 1884. At this point telephone boxes were usually wooden cabinets, sometimes called 'silence cabinets', which could be found in shops and stations.

When the General Post Office took over responsibility of Britain's telephones from the National Telephone Company, in 1912, plans to standardise telephone boxes were introduced. 

The first of these new designs, the K1, was of concrete construction and began appearing in 1921. This was followed by an updated K1 the following year.

In 1926 the iconic K2 design was introduced. This kiosk had a scarlet enamelled lion, crown, shield and unicorn motif, below the roof section, and was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It was made of cast iron and painted bright red.

The K3 design was an adaptation of the K2, but constructed with concrete.

The K4 was introduced in 1930 and used the design of the K2, but was expanded to include a stamp machine and post box. Only 5 examples of the K4 remain and are all Grade II listed. 

The K5 was a portable kiosk which could be used at temporary sites and was made of metal-faced plywood. It is believed that none of these kiosks, of which only a small number were manufactured, survive.

The K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, in 1936, to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, and was the first standard kiosk to be used throughout the United Kingdom. It was such a popular design that it lasted for over three decades.

The K7, introduced in 1962, was designed by Hugh Neville Conder, who radically overhauled the design of the kiosk. He utilised an aluminium and installed large glass windows. A few prototype kiosks were installed, but the General Post Office never put it into production.

The K8 was introduced in 1968 and was designed by Bruce Martin. He went back to the iconic K6 design, producing a cast-iron kiosk to the same over all dimensions, but replaced the small windows with single large windows. There were two variations of the K8, the Mark 1 and Mark 2, which differed mainly in the detail of the roof and the surround of the illuminated 'telephone' signs. 

Around 11,000 K8 telephone boxes were installed, with only around fifty surviving today, as British Telecom removed most of them in the 1980s.

Four of these K8 telephone boxes, which are Grade II listed, can be found on the London Underground platforms at Chalfont & Latimer, Chorleywood, High Street Kensington and Northwick Park stations. The K8 at Northwick Park station is the Mark 2 variant, while the other three are Mark 1's.