THREE phone boxes in Frensham have been given a whole new lease of life thanks to Frensham Parish Council with funding from the National Lottery.

The Frensham Phone Box Project was set up six years ago by Frensham Parish Council to renovate, restore and preserve the three redundant ‘K6’ phone boxes in the parish.

The phone boxes play a significant role in the architectural landscape of Britain. Designed in 1924 by architect Giles Gilbert Scott, they rapidly became a familiar item of street furniture up and down the land.

In the 1980s, British Telecom started to replace them with a more modern design, and the advent of the mobile phone hastened their end. The problem facing the boxes today is what to do with them.

Over the last few years it has become possible for organisations to purchase them from British Telecom, and so there are now many being converted to new uses.

The boxes in Frensham parish will each have a different use. Through them the parish council wants to welcome visitors, present the history of the local area and also give a space for local artists to display their work.

The box at Sandy Lane in Rushmoor has become a mini-museum. A custom-designed frame allows information panels to be easily arranged and changed. Eventually, ‘QR codes’ will also allow visitors access, via their mobile phones, to further information.

The St Mary’s box (outside Frensham village school) has become a compact gallery and display space for local artists and artisans, enabling them to mount exhibitions inside the box. The council will team up with local schools and colleges and give them the opportunity to use this unique space.

The British Legion box is the centrepiece, becoming a tiny visitor’s centre. The interior has been completely restored by Surrey-based Unicorn Restorations, who sourced all the original parts, and inside is an old ‘Button A, Button B’ pay phone and a video screen.

Specially commissioned short films introduce the visitor to the local area. The visitor will be able to select clips by dialling a number and listening to the audio in the handset.

If you would like to get involved, or have an idea for a display that you’d like to see, then contact Frensham Parish Council via www.frensham-pc.gov.uk. The project is entirely funded by the National Lottery’s Heritage Lottery Fund. Photo: Paul Doyle