Refurbishment of K6 telephone boxes throughout Sussex
The red K6 public telephone boxes, much-loved and iconic features of the British landscape, have increasingly been under threat from the development of mobile technology, neglect and vandalism.
In the spring and summer of 2015 the Sussex Heritage Trust carried out a survey into the survival and condition of red K6 telephone boxes in East and West Sussex. This was in conjunction with Sussex Associations of Local Councils (SALC) and the South Downs National Park Authority. The surveys indicated the telephone boxes were in slow decline and at worst critically at risk or had already been removed from their parishes.
The Sussex Heritage Trust has produced a guide, which explains the history of the famous red telephone boxes, provides information on their survival in Sussex and offers advice on how local communities can become involved in their future management, both to serve their original purpose and also for a range of new functions.
At its meeting on 18th April 2019, the West Sussex Association of Local Councils (WSALC) announced the winner of a competition to find the most imaginative use of redundant K6 Red Telephone box in Sussex. The Award was won by Ansty & Staplefield PC with its imaginative entry of ‘Brook Street Library’ – an adaptation that not only accommodated shelves of books but two folding seats. The runners up of the competition were Parham PC and Sutton & Barlavington PC.
We continue to look for imaginative uses of K6 phone boxes in communities where the initiative has been supported by the local town or parish council. Across the Country 5,000 redundant phone boxes have now been adopted – so there will be one very close to you! The competition will be launch again in 2021.
For full details of the Sussex Heritage Trust Red Telephone Box Campaign and for a free guide about how to preserve your red telephone box and change its use please click here. To join the campaign, post your pictures of red K6 public telephone boxes in Sussex on our instagram page.