A telephone kiosk at the geographic centre of Great Britain has been awarded Grade II-listed status, securing its future.
The KX100 kiosk at Dunsop Bridge, in Ribble Valley in Lancashire, was the 100,000th telephone kiosk installed in the country. It was officially opened in June 1992 by explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who made the first call from the kiosk, joined by children from nearby Thornleyholme RC Primary School.
Recognition of a 'nationally significant kiosk'
Jayne Rimmer, Historic England's north region listing team leader, said: "As part of the last generation of the public telephone box, it is a nationally significant kiosk."
The Twentieth Century Society (TCS), which champions outstanding examples of modern design, had applied for it to be listed. Campaigns director Oli Marshall said he was "absolutely delighted" by their success.
A 'cult following' for the KX100 model
Marshall noted the irony of the listing: "There's no small irony that it was the arrival of the KX100 that first spurred the Society into action back in 1985. Once the slayer of traditional red telephone boxes, that we fought vigorously to repel, now itself being given heritage protection."
He added: "While widely unloved and underappreciated in comparison to the classic red telephone boxes, the ugly duckling KX100 model has developed a cult following." Marshall also mentioned that the Tour de France is "passing through Dunsop Bridge next July," expressing hope that the kiosk will be the centrepiece of the village's celebrations, "as well as being the centre of Great Britain."
Village's special place in local hearts
Ribble Valley Borough Council leader Simon Hore said the phone box had "a special place in local people's hearts."
First introduced in 1985, the KX100 design features large glass panels and was designed to be easier to clean and more accessible than the previous red model. The kiosk is of particular importance as it features "a bespoke, site-specific design" with "key places in Britain radiating from the BT 'Piper' marque and Dunsop Bridge."
The Lancashire village was named as the nearest settlement to the geographical centre of Great Britain following work by national mapping agency Ordnance Survey (OS). Its calculations put the centre at Whitendale Hanging Stones, about 4.3 miles (7km) north-west of Dunsop Bridge. The title has been disputed, with other places also making a claim, including Haltwhistle in Northumberland.
OS later stated there could be "no absolute centre for a three-dimensional land mass sitting on the surface of a sphere and surrounded by the ebb and flow of sea water" and "different projections, scales and methods of calculation will all produce different results." Dunsop Bridge was the result of defining Britain as "the mainland and the 401 associated islands," a spokesperson said in 2014, adding that "looking only at the mainland of Great Britain," the location was a little further south, lying about 2.5 miles (4km) north-west of Whalley.
