Rare telephone box at Bucks railway station given Grade II listed status

A rare telephone box a at railway station in Buckinghamshire has been awarded grade II listed status.

The telephone box on the southbound platform of Chalfont & Latimer London Underground station in Little Chalfont is one of four boxes to receive the allocation.

A campaign was launched to give four K8 telephone boxes at London Underground stations protected status.

Yesterday (20 July) the Government announced that those applications were successful.

There is said to be only 50 K8 phone boxes in the world as most were removed by British Telecom in the 1980s. They date back to the mid-1960s and were designed by architect Bruce Martin.

The four boxes on the TFL network were designed for staff-use only. They were painted different colours from the traditional red to denote their independence from the public phone network. Between 1968 and 1983, 11,000 K8s were installed across the UK.

Bucks Council has revealed its Local Heritage Team earmarked the phone box as something worth protecting. The team is collating a list of locally-significant buildings and sites of historical, archaeological, architectural and cultural significance in the county.

Buckinghamshire’s Local Heritage List includes a variety of locally important heritage assets which contribute positively to the local character and identity of Buckinghamshire and are valued by local people, the local authority says.

The assets vary from buildings, archaeological remains, parks, gardens and public works of art, Bucks Council adds.

Councillor Peter Strachan said: “We are delighted that our Local Heritage List Team has in some way helped secure national Grade II listing for this iconic piece of cultural and design significance here in Buckinghamshire. It is so important that we treasure and protect artefacts like this for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.”

More information on the listing can be found on the Historic England website here. Buckinghamshire’s Local Heritage List is also available online here.

The other selected phone kiosks are at High Street Kensington, Chorleywood, and Northwick Park. Nine K8 boxes in Hull have also received Grade II status, the city has the most boxes, as the city ran an independent phone network separate from British Telecom.