The traditional red phone kiosk outside Hambledon Village Shop has been given a Grade II listing by English Heritage on the grounds of its architectural and historical significance.  The listing gives the box protection from removal at a time when British Telecom is reducing the number of public phone kiosks across the country.

In 2008 Stewart Payne asked English Heritage to consider listing the kiosk on behalf of Hambledon Parish Council, giving reasons why the kiosk should be protected.

English Heritage informed him this week that its criteria had been fulfilled and BT and Waverley Borough Council would be informed of its listing.

In its assessment, English Heritage stated that the kiosk was in good order and sited in a conservation area, in an “idyllic rural location” within the Surrey Hills area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  In its reasons for designation, English Heritage said: “It contributes to the picturesque landscape setting in which its stands; it has a contextual relationship with the adjacent post office and its is a representative example within a rural setting of an important industrial design”.  The kiosk is of the K6 type designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 on the occasion of King George V’s Silver Jubilee and was a development of his earlier K2 design. More than 10,000 K6s were produced over the following years until the mid 1960s.

Many have been removed in recent years and, in Hambledon, the red kiosk near Nutbourne Brickworks was a casualty.

English Heritage cannot list all the survivors and cases brought to its attention are closely examined. Its criteria demands that a kiosk must have “a strong visual relationship” with other buildings of interest in the immediate vicinity or be in a site of exceptional special interest.

Although the kiosk itself cannot now be removed, BT may still seek to discontinue the telephone service it provides.

Please pop into Hambledon’s newest listed building and phone a friend. But remember, you will need at BT phone card, on sale at the Post Officer counter, as it no longer accepts coins.