Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

Sun Chariot · 3 Jun 2026

Now that K4 is a real find @chipbury 8-)

Not only is the K4 distinctive and very rare, but Cranmore's box isn't listed (on the site linked witin the post linked here) as "the 5 survivors". So that suggests 6 K4s still remain!

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...

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weepingwillowb · 6 Jun 2026

Three pillar boxes in Carlisle today.

1 - Platform 4, Carlisle Station
2 - Platform 3, " "
3 - A replica Penfold box outside the Old Town Hall. The inscription on the plaque reads: "THIS REPLICA VICTORIAN PILLAR BOX WAS INSTALLED ON 15TH DECEMBER 1989 TO COMMEMORATE THE FACT THAT AN 1853 CARLISLE WAS THE FIRST PLACE IN MAINLAND BRITAIN TO HAVE A ROADSIDE PILLAR BOX"
Looking rather different to how it did in 1983 - https://villagelink.co.uk/carlisle-home-to-the-first-pillar-box-in-mainland-britain/

WesternLancer · 6 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
Three pillar boxes in Carlisle today.

1 - Platform 4, Carlisle Station
2 - Platform 3, " "
3 - A replica Penfold box outside the Old Town Hall. The inscription on the plaque reads: "THIS REPLICA VICTORIAN PILLAR BOX WAS INSTALLED ON 15TH DECEMBER 1989 TO COMMEMORATE THE FACT THAT AN 1853 CARLISLE WAS THE FIRST PLACE IN MAINLAND BRITAIN TO HAVE A ROADSIDE PILLAR BOX"
Looking rather different to how it did in 1983 - https://villagelink.co.uk/carlisle-home-to-the-first-pillar-box-in-mainland-britain/

Thanks.
Is it unusual to see free standing boxes in stations?
I’ve usually only seen wall mounted ones.

Sun Chariot · 6 Jun 2026

A marvellous haul today, @weepingwillowb and, I agree with @WesternLancer - I can't think of any station where I've seen free-standing pillar box inside the station's premises - so, to get two (Victoria Type A and Edward VII (1905-1910 cypher) Type B) is really good.

WesternLancer · 6 Jun 2026

Sun Chariot said:
A marvellous haul today, @weepingwillowb and, I agree with @WesternLancer - I can't think of any station where I've seen free-standing pillar box inside the station's premises - so, to get two (Victoria Type A and Edward VII (1905-1910 cypher) Type B) is really good.

Actually I’ve just remembered St Pancras has one of the possibly fibreglass types near the side entrance where you walk across from King’s Cross. Under the south eastern trains deck.
Can’t think of another I’ve seen though.

weepingwillowb · 6 Jun 2026

I spotted the first one when I got off the train early morning, never occurred to me to look for another, so it wasn't until I got back to the station in the late afternoon and went over the footbridge to have a look at the used-book shelves on platform 3 that I saw it.

Is it known what became of the original "first" Penfold box?

Sun Chariot · 6 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
Is it known what became of the original "first" Penfold box?

Very likely scrapped and melted down. Those Penfold boxes were relatively low capacity and had small posting-aperture; their "life" was relatively short.
I've only found one genuine (1872) smaller Penfold (photo on post 3), plus two larger capacity Penfold boxes sited in Bath.

chipbury · 8 Jun 2026

I saw this today, it’s an unusually small diameter post box that has been placed next to the preserved Warmley signal box.

SargeNpton · 8 Jun 2026

In the village of Hellidon, near Daventry, Northamptonshire.

WesternLancer · 8 Jun 2026

chipbury said:
I saw this today, it’s an unusually small diameter post box that has been placed next to the preserved Warmley signal box.

Never seen anything like that before!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jun 2026 ==

SargeNpton said:
In the village of Hellidon, near Daventry, Northamptonshire.

Does that say 'wet paint' in chalk on the bricks?

Sun Chariot · 8 Jun 2026

Great find @SargeNpton and thanks for sharing. 8-)

That George V wall box has had an (official) later addition, of a larger posting-aperture. The post linked below, has a link to a website which explains:

Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

The building's no longer there, but the box still is...

www.railforums.co.uk

As to its paint-job... the paint has run onto the wall, from he box's bottom and sides - yet its posting aperture already seems to have chipped paint and the door looks as though it missed the latest paint-job!

Thanks for sharing that small box @chipbury . Its tiny size, its location and its lack of any postal / next collection cards, make me certain that it's an ornamental "reproduction" box, used as the signal box's own letterbox.
The ornamental "repro" styles of boxes have become rather popular; I have seen numerous companies advertise them.

chipbury · 8 Jun 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Thanks for sharing that small box @chipbury . Its tiny size, its location and its lack of any postal / next collection cards, make me certain that it's an ornamental "reproduction" box, used as the signal box's own letterbox.
The ornamental "repro" styles of boxes have become rather popular; I have seen numerous companies advertise them.

Interesting, I thought it looked a bit small!

weepingwillowb · 9 Jun 2026

I saw this pillar box in West Kirby, on the Wirral, today. What's the attached box for?

Sun Chariot · 9 Jun 2026

Hello @weepingwillowb

Those small square boxes are called pouch boxes (or "bag drop boxes"). They are used by Royal Mail to securely store mail and delivery sacks out on the rounds, if a delivery round has too much postal volume for a postie to carry all at once.

Bag Drops: Royal Mail drivers drop off sealed mailbags (pouches) into the locked cabinets ahead of the on-foot postal delivery round.
On-Foot Delivery: Postperson delivers all mail from their first bag, then visits the pouch box to retrieve the next lot.
Efficiency: This enables on-foot ppstal delivery workers to cover high-volume routes without carrying all mail once, or making multiple trips to collect the mail from the local RM Delivery Office.

WesternLancer · 9 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
I saw this pillar box in West Kirby, on the Wirral, today. What's the attached box for?

I think there might be a general program of removing at least some of them, maybe as letter volumes have declined.

You often see bolt holes on the side of pillar boxes where I assume these boxes were once attached but have since been removed.
So this is my hunch.

Sun Chariot · 9 Jun 2026

Very good point @WesternLancer 8-)

WesternLancer · 9 Jun 2026

Sun Chariot said:
Very good point @WesternLancer

When were they first introduced I wonder?

Sun Chariot · 9 Jun 2026

WesternLancer said:
When were they first introduced I wonder?

My trusty source, Three Points of the Compass, tells me:

The Post Office introduced the concept of a pillar box with an integrated pouch / bag compartment in 1974.
In the mid-1980s, the Post Office rolled out both standalone and pillar-box-mounted pouch boxes, made iof self-coloured ABS plastic.

weepingwillowb · 9 Jun 2026

Thank you, both. Very interesting.

What's this one I saw in Warwick Bridge, east of Carlisle, last Saturday?

Sun Chariot · 10 Jun 2026

That's one of the boxes implemented only 1-2 years before the late Queen passed. I have seen one in Fishbourne village, near Chichester. A cheaper solution than a pillar box.

weepingwillowb · 10 Jun 2026

Sun Chariot said:
That's one of the boxes implemented only 1-2 years before the late Queen passed. I have seen one in Fishbourne village, near Chichester. A cheaper solution than a pillar box.

Thanks. I thought it might be for slightly-larger sized packets and envelopes.

madannie77 · 10 Jun 2026

Having driven through Warwick Bridge regularly for many years I have a feeling that the box has been in place for quite some time.

A quick look at Google Streetview suggests it was in situ in 2009.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

weepingwillowb · 10 Jun 2026

madannie77 said:
Having driven through Warwick Bridge regularly for many years I have a feeling that the box has been in place for quite some time.

A quick look at Google Streetview suggests it was in situ in 2009.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

The post office has closed since that Streetview image, and the building's now occupied by a "hair studio."

Sun Chariot · 10 Jun 2026

Good spot @madannie77 - that design of box is older than I thought.

weepingwillowb · 11 Jun 2026

I was in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, last Saturday, and saw two pillar boxes and two wall boxes, all EIIR. Later spotted another modern-looking wall box from a bus passing through Haltwhistle. Hexham wasn't much better, but I did find this EIIR double aperture box there.

LCC106 · 12 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
Here's the 'topper' on the box with a solar panel outside Kendal Post Office. Is permission required before a topper can be put on a box?

View attachment 204528

As long as the topper doesn’t interfere with the posting of mail, opening the box or I guess the solar panel on the newer boxes it’s all good. Probably good etiquette to ask permission but there are so many up and down the country and I don’t think people will have sought permission for all of them!

Sun Chariot · 12 Jun 2026

Welcome to the thread @LCC106 8-)

Yes, you're right about toppers; and Royal Mail's stance is explained upthread (link)

Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

The early boxes show different thinking in "practical" ways to protect precious post from the elements and from thieves: - vertical posting-aperture on the fluted styles (Warwick's box is on post 137), - hinged flap over the aperture, on the First National Standard design (on posts 275 and 299...

www.railforums.co.uk

WesternLancer · 13 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
I was in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, last Saturday, and saw two pillar boxes and two wall boxes, all EIIR. Later spotted another modern-looking wall box from a bus passing through Haltwhistle. Hexham wasn't much better, but I did find this EIIR double aperture box there.

That’s a smart looking example. Impressive to see.

weepingwillowb · 13 Jun 2026

WesternLancer said:
That’s a smart looking example. Impressive to see.

I've only just noticed that the two keyholes are adjacent to each other, which is an obvious thing to have, just that it had never occurred to me before.

There's another double aperture box in Fulwood, Preston, that I keep meaning to photograph. Are there variations in double aperture boxes, @Sun Chariot ?

WesternLancer · 13 Jun 2026

weepingwillowb said:
I've only just noticed that the two keyholes are adjacent to each other, which is an obvious thing to have, just that it had never occurred to me before.

Good spot!

weepingwillowb said:
There's another double aperture box in Fulwood, Preston, that I keep meaning to photograph. Are there variations in double aperture boxes, @Sun Chariot ?

Post your Post Boxes! (Photos and fun facts)

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