The Red Telephone Box Graveyard, North Yorkshire

The Red Telephone Box Cemetery in Carlton Miniott, North Yorkshire is a nostalgic location that showcases the history of public telephone boxes in Britain.

Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, these iconic red telephone boxes once lined the streets of the UK.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott also worked on the design of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral - the cathedral's construction spanned several decades and it stands as one of the largest cathedrals in the world.

As technology advanced and mobile phones became more widespread, public telephone boxes became obsolete and were eventually removed from the city streets.

In the 1980s, the British Telecom company began removing these phone boxes from urban areas and relocating them to rural storage areas.

One such storage area is located in Carlton Miniott, where hundreds of decommissioned phone boxes are found in various stages of decay.

The site is part of an Imperial Service Station, which once served as a maintenance facility for British Telecom.

A man from a small North Yorkshire village took over the responsibility of spending the best part of his career restoring them to their former glory.

The phones no longer ring, but they were lovingly given a new lease of life by Mike Shores prior to his retirement in 2015.

He told the Daily Mail in 2016 that he spent over 100 hours stripping and repainting them with their classic red shade once stipulated by the General Post Office. He described it as a "labour of love."

Once the booths are restored, they're sold on to feature in art instillations around the world, as well as being used as green houses, housing defibrillators, tiny libraries and even a coffee shop in Brighton.

Perhaps most fittingly, they are sometimes used as mobile phone charging ports.

These telephone boxes were not only functional, but also became a symbol of British culture and design.

The iconic red phone box

The red telephone box is an iconic symbol of British design, and its history can be traced back to the 1920s.

The design that became widely recognised as the classic red telephone box is known as the K2.

In 1924, the General Post Office (GPO) in the United Kingdom announced a competition for the design of a new public telephone kiosk.

The aim was to create a standardized and recognizable structure that would be easily identifiable as a public telephone facility.

The winning design came from the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. His entry, known as the K2, featured a distinctive red colour, a domed roof, and a prominent crown.

The design was a blend of classical and modern architectural elements, reflecting the prevalent design aesthetics of the time.

The first K2 telephone boxes were introduced in London in 1926.

They were made of cast iron and featured the iconic red paint. The design was more elaborate than later iterations, with decorative details and a classical aesthetic.

While the K2 design was initially successful, a more streamlined and cost-effective version, known as the K6, was introduced in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V.

The K6 design, also created by Giles Gilbert Scott, became the most widespread and enduring version of the red telephone box.

The red telephone box, particularly the K6, became a ubiquitous sight across the United Kingdom.

However, with the advent of mobile phones and changes in communication technology, the use of public telephone boxes declined significantly from the late 20th century onward.

Despite the decline in their functional use, red telephone boxes are often preserved for their historical and cultural significance.

Many have been repurposed for various uses, such as housing defibrillators, mini-libraries, or tourist information points.

They remain an enduring symbol of British heritage.

Giles Gilbert Scott

Like his famous grandfather, he was primarily a church builder, his greatest individual commission being for the new Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

The construction of this massive Gothic structure in red sandstone, begun in 1904, spanned Scott’s entire working life and was completed only in 1980 by two of his associates, F.G. Thomas and R.A. Pickney.

He was knighted after the consecration ceremony in 1924.

Among his many secular works were the library at the University of Cambridge; the Waterloo Bridge (completed 1945), London; and the Battersea Power Station.

His designs also inspired by the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.

And of course, he is also known for the creation of the red public telephone boxes.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please follow Exploring GB on Facebook for daily travel content and inspiration.

Don’t forget to check out our latest blog posts below!

Thank you for visiting Exploring GB.