Unhinged?

Elaborate floral design on chapel door at Cathays Cemetery

The hinge is a bit like the wheel or the zip – it’s one of those everyday objects we take for granted yet where would we be without it? Unhinged?

The origin of the hinge is obscured by the mists of time. Archaeologists have uncovered metal hinges from cultures that flourished between 4000 and 5000 years ago, and it’s likely there were even earlier ones, made from perishable materials like animal leather and wood, that simply haven’t survived.

The Romans even had a goddess of the hinge, Cardea or Carda, one of the three gods who attended to all doorway matters, though this was more to do with the Roman rituals surrounding the definition of boundaries and sacred spaces than with the physical hinge itself. 

Interestingly, the goddess’s name survives in modern language: it is the origin of the word cardinal (think pivotal member of the church hierarchy) and in the geographical term cardinal point (the cardo was the main north-south road in a Roman settlement, the road that served to align their terrestrial and celestial spaces).

Simple, yet elegant hinge design at Cardiff Castle

In the earliest days of metal production, all items were expensive and labour-intensive to produce, so only the rich and powerful could afford elaborate hinges on their doors and gates. As metal alloys were developed and knowledge of metalworking spread, the more basic hinge designs were adopted for use by ordinary people, though the most ornamental hinges remained a privilege of the wealthy through to modern times.

Another simple design, on the rear door of the yet-to-be-restored belltower at Cathays Cemetery

Lots of metal, yet a simple hinge, on this old door at the Bishop's Palace, in Llandaff

Many of the hinges that survive today from medieval through to Victorian times are on public buildings like city halls, museums and churches, and on the manor houses, mansions and castles of the very well-off. They are works of art, fashioned by skilled craftsmen – usually blacksmiths – into wonderfully ornate designs, embellished with scrolls and curlicues, and nature-inspired branches, leaves and flowers.

St Andrew's Church, Cardiff, with an ornate design for the front door and a more simple hinge for the side door

You might think I’m ‘unhinged’ for even noticing the door hinge but how could I not when there are so many beautiful examples on the buildings here in Cardiff. Even the more simple designs are noteworthy for the very fact that they were almost certainly handmade, while the most sophisticated designs deserve to be celebrated in art galleries and museums for their exquisite artistry.

I give you the hinge!

On the front doors of the Trevithick Building at Cardiff University (with beautiful wooden carving above)

Two old churches in Cardiff city

On the entrance gate to the West Lodge at Cardiff Castle

The main entrance door to Llandaff Cathedral

Llandaff Cathedral: left, a close-up on the main entrance door, and, right, a side door

The side and front doors of St Margaret's Church in Roath

Best British design ever?

I’m not sure everyone would agree with this choice, particularly as the survey only included 2000 of Britain’s estimated 64.1 million people, but last week the instigators of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Great British Design Study announced that the classic red telephone box had been chosen as the Best British Design ever.

At Port Sunlight

Professor Catherine McDermott, a design expert and Director of the Curating Contemporary Design Research Group at Kingston University, was commissioned by Samsung to conduct the study as a way of celebrating the launch of their latest smartphone. McDermott and a panel of judges created a longlist which the select 2000 then voted upon.

The first British telephone box (the K1) was a concrete construction, built in 1920, but the vibrant red phone box the Brits know and love resulted from a series of design competitions held in 1923-24. The winning design, officially known as the K2 (K for kiosk), was the brainchild of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, architect of such diverse structures as Liverpool Cathedral, the Battersea Power Station and Waterloo Bridge, though Scott had intended his phone box to be painted silver. The iconic vibrant red, officially known as ‘currant red’, was chosen instead, to make the boxes easy to spot.

Phone boxes at Arley, at Knutsford (decorated for Christmas 2014) and at Pickmere

Over the years, the phone box design morphed from the K2 (made in cast iron) to a K3 (also designed by Scott but built of concrete) to a K4 (an unsuccessful attempt to add a postage stamp dispenser on the outside – the noise disrupted phone calls and the stamps got damp) to a K5 (a plywood model for exhibition use only) to the K6 (designed in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of George V and mass produced). In 1940 there were 35,000 K6s in Britain. By 1980, there were 73,000!

The book exchange at Great Budworth

From 1926 onwards, the fascias of the kiosks were emblazoned with a prominent crown, representing the British government. From 1935 to 1952 the Tudor Crown was used, the emblem of King George V’s Silver Jubilee, then from 1952 onwards, the emblem changed to St Edward’s Crown, the actual crown used at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. In Scotland, from 1955, the Crown of Scotland was used.

Initially, all the crowns were painted the same red as the boxes themselves but, from the early 1990s, the crowns have been highlighted with gold paint.

With the advent and subsequent popularity of mobile phones the old red telephone boxes are fast disappearing, though in some places they are also being repurposed. The one I found in the little Cheshire village of Great Budworth is now a tiny community book exchange and other alternate uses include a miniature art gallery in Settle, Yorkshire, the world’s smallest pub at Shepreth in Cambridgeshire, and a place to house a defibrillator in the village of Glendaruel in Argyll. For the bargain price of £2250 (excluding delivery), you can buy a K6 phone box and create your very own library or art gallery or bar or …

At Plumley

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the rest of that Best British Design list, here are the top 25:

1. Red Phone Box (K Series)

2. Routemaster Double Decker Bus

3. Union Jack

4. Spitfire

5. Rolls Royce

6. London Taxi

7. Tube Map

8. Mini Cooper

9. Concorde

10. Red Pillar Box

11. Jaguar E-Type

12. Aston Martin DB5

13. Miniskirt

14. London Eye

15. Double Helix DNA structure

16. Wembley Stadium

17. First Class Postage Stamp

18. Dr Martens

19. Angel of the North

20. Wellington Boots

21. London 2012 Olympic Torch

22. Tartan Print

23. Burberry Trench Coat

24. Saville Row Suit

25. Fred Perry Polo Shirt