Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

[Sun Chariot]

A non-railway topic - but with a trait that resonates with railway lovers: "Gotta get them all" e.g. numbers, track routes, haulage.

I've set myself a whimsical task, to find as many variations of free-standing (pillar) and wall post boxes within a radius "one hour's drive from home". A wall theme for this first post:
Victoria "Ludlow" wood-carcass wall box with a white enamel frontage and the maker's-plate of Edward Cole.
Victoria two styles (and sizes) of bronze wall box. One is still fitted with aperture's original weather / theft "finger-trap" flap.
Edward VII large wall box. The Imperial State crown dates it 1901-1904.
George V medium- and large-size boxes.
George VI medium-sized box, with detail differences to both Victoria and George V medium-sized boxes.
Elizabeth II lamp box embedded into a wall.

If Royal Mail Post boxes is your "thing" too, I'd be delighted to see your own photos of the rare, distinctive or old ones!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Sun Chariot. Good stuff! Nice photos. A crossover thread might possibly have been a comparison of some of the variations in postboxes located inside or just outside GB railway stations, but I think we've possibly done that particular topic before.

P.S. Anyone else get a little miffed when postboxes, which have just the one daily collection, at or after 9.00 a.m., but the little metal "next collection" day plate is absent or missing?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Thanks @Mcr Warrior I deliberately kept my task-scope to within one hour drive from home; it's primarily for practicality but also to preserve my sanity and my marriage...

And so, the rarer pillar boxes in my locality:
Victoria 1872 "Penfold" hexagonal (1980s repro's, such as at Haslemere, have a small plaque on the base),
Victoria standard Type A and Type B, dated 1887-1901. This Hamdyside-cast example has VR cypher, dating it later than Handyside's "Anonymous" boxes of 1879 -1887.
Edward VII with Imperial State Crown, dated 1901-1904.
Edward VII with Tudor Crown, dated 1905-1910 (Crown was also used on boxes for George V, Edward VIII and George VI).
George V ex-Airmail, dated 1933/4-1938 (these 2 retain half their former "flight destinations" plates). Fewer than 300 left.
Edward VIII, 1936 (his reign only 326 days). Around 150 left.
Elizabeth II "Nigerian", 1979 (around 170 were installed when the 'standard' Type B's existing mould wore out).
Elizabeth II "Olympic specials". 110 post boxes were painted gold, to honour the gold medallists at London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The boxes were generally located in the current home towns of those athletes.

Fun fact...
Hampshire resident Peter Charles won gold in the Equestrian Team Jumping event; and he was celebrated with a gold post box bearing a plaque, in Alton.
Then it was pointed out that Peter does not live, nor has ever lived, in Alton...
Peter's home village of Bentworth - 4 miles from Alton - then gained a box and plaque. The Alton box however remains to this day.
Thus - to my knowledge - he's the only 2012 Olympic athlete with two gold post boxes in the same county.

 

[75A]

Thanks @Mcr Warrior I deliberately kept my task-scope to within one hour drive from home; it's primarily for practicality but also to preserve my sanity and my marriage...

And so, the rarer pillar boxes in my locality:
Victoria 1872 "Penfold" hexagonal (1990s repro's, such as at Haslemere, have a small plaque on the base),
Victoria standard Type A and Type B, dated 1879-1901.
Edward VII with Imperial State Crown, dated 1901-1904.
Edward VII with Tudor Crown, dated 1905-1910 (Crown was also used on boxes for George V, Edward VIII and George VI).
George V ex-Airmail, dated 1933/4-1938 (these 2 retain half their former "flight destinations" plates). Fewer than 300 left.
Edward VIII, 1936 (his reign only 326 days). Around 150 left.
Elizabeth II "Nigerian", 1979 (around 170 were installed when the 'standard' Type B's existing mould wore out).

Three Points of The Compass site provides a comprehensive back-story for the Airmail and the Nigerian boxes.
The Letter Box Study Group site hints at the sheer variety UK-wide - and so I hope this thread inspires great examples from other forum members.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Oct 2025 ==

All that glitters...

Royal Mail repainted 110 post boxes gold to honour the gold medallists at London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The boxes were generally located in the current home towns of those athletes.

Hampshire resident Peter Charles won gold in the Equestrian Team Jumping event; and he was celebrated with a gold post box bearing a plaque, in Alton.
Then it was pointed out that Peter does not live, nor has ever lived, in Alton...
Peter's home village of Bentworth - 4 miles from Alton - then gained a box and plaque. The Alton box howecer remains to this day.
Thus - to my knowledge - he's the only 2012 Olympic athlete with two gold post boxes in tbe same county.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Oct 2025 ==

This is the Letter Box at the end of our Drive. When we first had it put in it was red and we were averaging a couple of letters a week put in by people thinking it was real.
We bought it at an Auction on the mainland.
Sorry, unable to get it vertical!

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's excellent @75A I wonder what the Nationalists would have thought at that.

I see a lot of properties locally, with repro' boxes outside their front; almost all are red.
Coincidentally, I've seen an increasing number of Royal Mail's postal vans sporting white instead of red paint.

My latest "box rounds" have tracked as far east as Chichester (the villages and lanes to the north and south of the A27). So I reckon I can scout out your former "turf" by Christmas!

 

[75A]

A house a few miles away has theirs painted a dark green which means it blends in well.

Got to admit the box isn't very practical as my monthly magazines are to big and have to be brought up to the house anyway. The only one that fits in is Private Eye which is paper and folds in half.
You've now got me interested and I shall look out for anything unusual.

 

[Sun Chariot]

You've now got me interested and I shall look out for anything unusual.

Attached are locations of three historically important styles.

On the mainland - albeit farther away than my "1 hour's drive" scope - the UK's oldest postal box still in use, resides in West Dorset. It's diminutive compared to "standard" heights.

 

[WesternLancer]

This is an interesting thread.

My local pillar box is an 'Anonymous' box (no Royal Cypher) - despite having used it for some time I'd never actually noticed this until one day going past it with a friend and her young daughter, said daughter pointed out that it had no monarch's crest on it and asked why not. Us adults could not answer this question.

I looked into it and discovered the reason - they are quite unusual. As explained on this website - the site and association for all enthusiasts on the topic!

Letter Box Study Group

A = Anonymous - Letter Box Study Group

Pillar boxes manufactured by Andrew Handyside between 1879 and 1887 omitted the words POST OFFICE and the VR royal cipher, and these boxes are known as Anonymous as a result. When the omissions were pointed out the situation was immediately rectified, but not until Anonymous boxes had been...

lbsg.org

Pillar boxes manufactured by Andrew Handyside between 1879 and 1887 omitted the words POST OFFICE and the VR royal cipher, and these boxes are known as Anonymous as a result. When the omissions were pointed out the situation was immediately rectified, but not until Anonymous boxes had been produced for five years.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Well done @WesternLancer for that detective work. The Anonymous boxes are uncommon - I've not unearthed one.
If you have a chance to add a photo of it, I'd love to see it.

Two Edward VII wall boxes in West Sussex hamlets, today:
The larger of them bears royal cypher and a Tudor Crown - dating it 1905-1910. Compare it with post 1's EVII wall box, which bears the Imperial State Crown.
The other - a diminutive lamp box embedded in a wall - has royal cypher but no crown. It's roughly-cast and now rusted.

 

[WesternLancer]

Well done @WesternLancer for that detective work. The Anonymous boxes are uncommon - I've not unearthed one.
If you have a chance to add a photo of it, I'd love to see it.

Today's addition is one of two Edward VII wall boxes found in West Sussex hamlets:
The attached one bears his cypher and Tudor Crown, dating it to 1905-1910. Compare with the Edward VII wall box on post 1 (Winchester), with its Imperial State Crown and lack of royal cypher dating it to 1901-1904.
The other - wonderfully diminutive, with an arched top and no crown - I'll return to photo it, when we next get morning sun.

Thanks - I'll try and sort a picture out. Most of this year it seems to have been continuously 'capped' in ever more elaborate knitwear as the local crafting group have regularly done ever changing decorations for it! So I probably won't be able to get a picture of it unadorned...

For many years it was covered in umpteen coats of paint (possibly every layer of paint since installation perhaps), making some of the features not as well defined as they should have been, then about 8 - 10 years years ago Royal Mail treated it to a full renovation with an in situ grit blasting back to bare metal, pink primer then the red top coat paint. It looked very good and still does. They did several other pillar boxes in the neighbourhood to the same standard. I'm not sure why they were treated to this level of renovation but it was very good. It may be because they are located in a Conservation Area but that is just a guess.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Many older post boxes have Listed status; and I suspect their historical interest helps them up Royal Mail's "refurbishment" pecking order.

The 1872 Penfold-design VR box, in post 3, is outside former Gosport Railway station: used by Queen Victoria to discreetly sail to the Isle of Wight for her Osborne House; and was also used to convey Osborne House's most distinguished visitors on their trains.
Nowadays it's all apartments - but the box serves a touching link with its regal past.

 

[WesternLancer]

Anonymous pillar box. With knitted decorations as mentioned up thread.

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's excellent @WesternLancer thanks. My goodness, the size of that topper puts the South Coast's knitters to shame...

 

[styles]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Oct 2025 ==

This is the Letter Box at the end of our Drive. When we first had it put in it was red and we were averaging a couple of letters a week put in by people thinking it was real.
We bought it at an Auction on the mainland.
Sorry, unable to get it vertical!

I mean, in all honesty, if that postbox was painted red and I had something to post, I would use it! I'm sure it's all lawful etc but I think painting it white or putting a slip in the collection times to say it's not for public posting, or covering up the posting hole would be sensible moves

I assume you posted on the post which members of the public deposited?

 

[RJ]

I have a life-sized Penfold postbox sat in my front room

It's a bit of an ornament but goes out on loan as a wedding gift box on occasion!

 

[WesternLancer]

I have a life-sized Penfold postbox sat in my front room

It's a bit of an ornament but goes out on loan as a wedding gift box on occasion!

Is it cast iron and yet portable?

 

[Bevan Price]

Have you ever seen one of these:
Combined phone box & letter box in Warrington.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Have you ever seen one of these:
Combined phone box & letter box in Warrington.

Apparently, these are 'K4' telephone boxes from the 1930s; only fifty were produced and there's not many still left. There's other examples at Bewdley (nearby the Severn Valley Railway station) and also at Frodsham and Whitley Bay and hardly anywhere else.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Now there's a gem of a box (or boxes!) @Bevan Price
I'd heard of the combination but I've not seen one, nor a clear photo of one. Many thanks for sharing.

 

[WesternLancer]

Have you ever seen one of these:
Combined phone box & letter box in Warrington.

Only in pictures. The K4 I learn. One of only five left from an original 50 according to this interesting info

The Telephone Box | Kiosk No 4

The K4 kiosk was designed by the Engineering Department of the General Post Office. It used the successful design of the K2 kiosk, by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, expanded to include a post box and stamp machine; it was an automated mini-Post Office. The K4 kiosk was enormous and was half as big...

www.the-telephone-box.co.uk

Includes pics of a restored K4

All apparently listed buildings.

 

[RJ]

Is it cast iron and yet portable?

Cast iron, weighs about 60kg - https://www.blackcountrymetalworks.co.uk/penfold-pillar-post-box.htm

I have a Cosco truck to move it about and one of my buses has ample space and a pair of retaining straps to transport them!

 

[Sun Chariot]

A teaser for you, following WesternLancer's superb Victorian-era "Anonymous" post box:
Part of the UK uses post boxes without a particular former Monarch's royal cypher:
1) Where in the UK is it?
2) Which royal cypher is excluded and why?

 

[75A]

I assume you posted on the post which members of the public deposited?

Indeed in an identical Pillar Box in nearby Ardglass.

 

[WesternLancer]

A teaser for you, following WesternLancer's superb Victorian-era "Anonymous" post box:

Part of the UK uses post boxes without a particular former Monarch's royal cypher:
1) Where in the UK is it?
2) Which royal cypher is excluded and why?

I’ve no idea of this but intrigued to know the answer!

Suspect it might be Scotland.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Your suspicion is correct @WesternLancer

Scotland has no EIIR cyphered post boxes, because Elizabeth II was actually their first Queen Elizabeth.

While Elizabeth I ruled over England, Scotland's monarch was James VI (son of Mary, Queen of Scots - Mary was cousin to Elizabeth I). Upon Elizabeth I's death in 1603, James took the English throne as James I.
So, Elizabeth Windsor was Scotland's first ruler named thus.

To comply with an historical objection and to avoid causing offence, Royal Mail installed Scotland's post boxes bearing Crown of St Andrew and no cypher.

 

[WesternLancer]

Your suspicion is correct @WesternLancer

Scotland has no EIIR cyphered post boxes, because Elizabeth II was actually their first Queen Elizabeth.

While Elizabeth I ruled over England, Scotland's monarch was James VI (son of Mary, Queen of Scots - Mary was cousin to Elizabeth I). Upon Elizabeth I's death in 1603, James took the English throne as James I.
So, Elizabeth Windsor was Scotland's first ruler named thus.

To comply with an historical objection and to avoid causing offence, Royal Mail installed Scotland's post boxes bearing Crown of St Andrew and no cypher.

Fascinating. Any pics?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Fascinating. Any pics?

None of my own - but the Letter Box Study Group site has a few; and a quick public domain image search Scottish Royal Mail post box crown should yield some results.

 

[WesternLancer]

The wonderfully small Edward VII box tucked away by a West Sussex farm, now added to post 9. Link is here:

Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

A non-railway topic - but with a trait that resonates with railway lovers: "Gotta get them all" e.g. numbers, track routes, haulage. I've set myself a whimsical task, to find as many variations of free-standing (pillar) and wall post boxes within a radius "one hour's drive from home". A wall...

www.railforums.co.uk

That's an interesting one.

Talking of small letter boxes I've noted a tendency to replace the small sized stand alone ones (as attached to telegraph poles or on their own posts, rather than embedded in a wall) that were in cast metal - and long standing - with new ones made of what looks like sheet steel fabrication. I could not really see the point of doing this given the older cast ones seem robust and not in need of replacing. One near a relative's house got swapped a few years ago and I'm pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the one that was removed, which I recall being there since the 1970s and probably a lot longer. Was / is there a programme to roll out replacements like this does anyone know?

There is a picture of the type of small box I mean here in the middle (sorry - it was easier to post this link than post an image of the type I mean):

SEPTEMBER 2022 - WHAT DOES THE NEW KING MEAN FOR POST BOXES? - Letter Box Study Group

All UK kings and queens since the postbox was introduced in 1852 have had their royal cipher displayed on postboxes installed during their reign. But getting a postbox ready for a new monarch is not always straightforward! Edward VIII boxes were still being installed in early 1937, and then his...

lbsg.org

 

[Sun Chariot]

Replacements usually occur when one or more cast fixings (e.g.hinge mounts, handle) crack or fail. Three weeks ago, I spied a Type B EIIR pillar box in Gosport, with its entire front missing - I suspect its door hinge casting / hinge-pin broke.

 

[SteveP29]

There's an Edward VIII box outside the post office in Chester le Street.
I always believed it was very rare, but that seems not to be the case reading one of your replies above