Collection of British Pillar boxes at the Inkpen Post Box Museum, near Taunton, Somerset

A pillar box is a free-standing post box, in the United Kingdom, where mail is deposited to be collected by the Royal Mail and forwarded to the addressee. Similar designs exist as historical artefacts in certain Commonwealth of Nations countries. Pillar boxes have been in use since 1852, just 12 years after the introduction of the first adhesive postage stamps and uniform penny post. A 4:3 image pillarboxed into a 16:9 display The pillar box effect occurs in widescreen video displays when black bars (mattes or masking) are placed on the sides of the image. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see Taunton (disambiguation). ... This article is about the county of Somerset in England. ... Post boxes in Australia The yellow box is for express mail. ... For other uses, see Mail (disambiguation). ... Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2008. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... The Uniform Penny Post was a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UKs official postal service, that took place in the 19th-century. ...

Mail may also be deposited in lamp boxes or wall boxes that serve the same purpose as pillar boxes but are attached to a post or set into a wall. According to the Letter Box Study Group, there are more than 150 recognised designs and varieties of pillar boxes and wall boxes, not all of which have known surviving examples. Royal Mail estimates there are over 100,000 post boxes in the United Kingdom.^[1] A Georgian lamp box at Tal-y-llyn, Wales Lamp boxes are the smallest post boxes used by the Royal Mail in the UK and by its counterparts in the British Commonwealth. ... Wall boxes are a type of post box or letter box found in the UK and commonwealth countries. ...

Pre-history

Before the introduction of Pillar boxes, on the UK mainland, it was customary to take outgoing mail to the nearest letter receiving house or post office. Such houses were usually coaching inns or turnpike houses where the Royal Mail coach would stop to pick up and set down mails and passengers. People took their letters, in person, to the receiver, or postmaster, purchased a stamp (after 1840) and handed over the letter.
Small-town post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama A post office is a facility (in most countries, a government one) where the public can purchase postage stamps for mailing correspondence or merchandise, and also drop off or pick up packages or other special-delivery items. ... In the United Kingdom, from approximately the mid-seventeenth century for a period of about 200 years, the Coaching Inn was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure. ... A toll road, turnpike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a fee for use. ... If you are looking for different meanings of this word, see Postmaster (disambiguation) A postmaster is a term used in post offices to denote the head or master of the office. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Construction

Cast iron cap of a PB42/1 sits atop the carcass and is secured by bolts

The carcass of a George VI box being lifted from the ground. The cap and door have already been removed.

This rare Edward VIII pillar box door shows the built-in posting aperture, collection plate and the Royal Cipher

Most traditional British Pillar boxes produced after 1905 are made of cast iron and are cylindrical in shape. Other shapes have been used; the hexagonal Penfolds, rectangular boxes that have not proved to be popular, and an oval shape that is used mainly for the large double aperture boxes most often seen in large cities like London^[2] and Dublin.^[3] In recent years boxes manufactured in glass-fibre or ABS plastic have been produced that do not follow these general outlines. These are for use in secure indoor locations such as supermarkets.^[4] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 293 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (877 × 1792 pixel, file size: 262 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Edward VIII door from pillar box. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 293 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (877 × 1792 pixel, file size: 262 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Edward VIII door from pillar box. ... King Edward VIII King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King of Ireland Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VIII, (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David), later His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor (23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was the second British monarch of the House... Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ... For other uses, see Dublin (disambiguation). ... There is a disputed proposal to merge this article with glass-reinforced plastic. ... Monomers in ABS polymer ABS plastic pipes in use in a wet basement of a paper mill, in Sault Ste. ... Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon A supermarket is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise. ...

Cast iron Pillar box construction comprises three distinct main parts:

The cap sits on top of the Carcass and is usually bolted down from inside. Some designs after 1965 do not have a separate cap. Caps can also be fitted with a separate bracket, normally of cast iron, which supports a Post Office Direction sign (POD) indicating the nearest Post Office.

The door contains the aperture or posting slot. It is hinged, should display the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch and may also be fitted with a collection plate showing the times of collection from that location. It is fitted with a brass security lock on the inside. The contractor for these locks has been the Chubb Locks company of London for many years. They are 5 lever locks and each one can exhibit more than 6500 combinations. Contrary to popular myth, there are no skeleton keys for these locks. Each post box has its own set of keys and postal workers have to carry large bunches with them when clearing the boxes. The Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, surmounted with a crown. ... The Chubb Locks subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group is a British manufacturer of high security locking systems for residential and commercial applications. ...

The carcass or body of the box that at supports the door and cap, and may protrude substantially down below ground level. This provides security and stability to the pillar box. There is a wirework cage inside to prevent mail falling out when the door is opened, a hinged letter chute to allow mail to fall into the collecting bag or sack and a serrated hand-guard to prevent unauthorised tampering with the mail through the aperture.

The Channel Island problem

VR box in Guernsey is the oldest in use box in Great Britain

The advent of the British wayside letter box can be traced to Sir Rowland Hill, Secretary of the Post Office, and his Surveyor for the Western District,and noted novelist, Anthony Trollope. Hill sent Trollope to the Channel Islands to ascertain what could be done about the problem of collecting the mails on a pair of islands. The problems identified in the Channel Islands were caused by the irregular sailing times of the Royal Mail packet boats serving the islands due to weather and tides. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 343 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (688 × 1202 pixel, file size: 501 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pillar box User:Kitmaster/postbox Metadata... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 343 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (688 × 1202 pixel, file size: 501 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pillar box User:Kitmaster/postbox Metadata... Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS (December 3, 1795 - August 27, 1879) was a British teacher and social reformer. ... Anthony Trollope (April 24, 1815 – December 6, 1882) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. ...

Trollope subsequently arrived in Jersey in the early Spring of 1852 and proceeded to survey both islands. His recommendation back to Hill was to employ a device he may have seen in use in Paris: a “letter-receiving pillar”. It was to be made of cast iron, about 1.50 metres high, octagonal in design and painted olive green. Trollope estimated that four would be needed for Guernsey and five for Jersey. The foundry of Vaudin & Son in Jersey was commissioned to produce them and the first four were erected in David Place, New Street, Cheapside and St Clement's Road Saint Helier and bought into public use on November 23, 1852. Guernsey received its first three pillar boxes on February 8, 1853. Saint Helier (Jèrriais: St Hélyi) is one of the twelve parishes and the largest town on Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

They were an instant success, despite some obvious problems with rainwater ingress. One Vaudin box still stands in Union Street, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey whilst another is in the British Postal Museum & Archive collection in London. This is a map of Guernsey. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

The first mainland boxes

Early mainland John Butt box type PB1/1 in Haverfordwest Town Museum

The very first boxes erected on the mainland are, unfortunately, not recorded, but the designs varied from area to area as each District Surveyor issued their own specifications and tendered to their own chosen foundries. The earliest ones were essentially experimental, including octagonal pillars or fluted columns, vertical slits instead of horizontal ones, and other unusual features. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 449 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (500 × 667 pixel, file size: 47 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 1st Mainland Post Box by John Butt of Gloucester now in Haverfordwest Town Museum, formerly at Merlins Bridge, A40. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 449 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (500 × 667 pixel, file size: 47 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 1st Mainland Post Box by John Butt of Gloucester now in Haverfordwest Town Museum, formerly at Merlins Bridge, A40. ... Haverfordwest (Welsh: Hwlffordd) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, in south-west Wales. ... The term foundry originally was a synonym for an ironworks or general metal works where metal casting operations were performed. ...

It is recorded in the Post Office archives that the first mainland box was erected in Botchergate, Carlisle in 1853. The spot is commemorated today with a replica Penfold box. The first six in London were installed on April 11, 1855. The earliest surviving mainland designs are four Butt boxes made in Gloucester for the Western Area. These are located at Barnes Cross, near Sherborne, Dorset, inside the former Britannia Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth, in the Haverfordwest town museum (formerly at Merlin's Bridge) and in the British Postal Museum & Archive store at Debden (formerly at Ventor Railway Station, Isle of Wight). All date from 1853-9, with Barnes Cross being one of the later batch. The oldest pillar boxes still functioning in the Royal Mail network are sited at Framlingham in Suffolk. This pair were founded by Andrew Handyside & Co of Derby in 1856. They are situated at Double Street and College Road. A third octagonal pillar of this type was at Gobweston in Lincolnshire and is now in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln. 1856 also saw various designs introduced in Scotland and the Midlands. is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the city of Gloucester in England; for other uses see Gloucester (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dɔ.sət], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... This article is about the city in England. ... Haverfordwest (Welsh: Hwlffordd) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, in south-west Wales. ... Ventor can refer to Jürgen Ventor Reil, the drummer of Kreator Halagad Ventor, a Star Wars character, see List of minor Star Wars Jedi knights Category: ... For other uses, see Isle of Wight (disambiguation). ... , Framlingham, /fræbˈdoʊmən/, is a market town in East Suffolk, England. ... For other places with the same name, see Lincolnshire (disambiguation). ... Lincoln (pronounced //) is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England. ...

Design problems

The first design for London, by Grissel & Son of Hoxton Ironworks was rather stubby and rectangular, although surmounted by a decorative ball. Erected in 1855, they were replaced because people complained that they were ugly. One survived and was earmarked for preservation in the early part of the 20th century. It was unfortunately stored in a contractor's yard in London which was subject to a direct hit from a German bomb during the Blitz, thus destroying forever some important boxes. A photograph of this Grissel box together with a Giant Fluted box and a Penfold in the Contractor's yard appeared in The Letter Box by Jean Young Farrugia (see bibliography). ‹ The template below (Citations missing) is being considered for deletion. ...

Moving towards a standard design

1856 type PB1/viii at the West Gate, Warwick

Standardisation of sorts came in 1857 with the deliberations of the Committee for Science & Art of the House of Lords. The Committee designed a very ornate box festooned with Grecian style-decoration, but in a major oversight, devoid of any posting aperture, which meant they were hewn out of the cast iron locally, destroying the aesthetic of the box. Fifty were made for London and the big cities and three survive. One is in Salford Museum, Greater Manchester and the other two are at the BPMA in London. A similar, much simplified version has survived painted green by An Post at the Kent railway station Cork, Ireland. Also to be found only in Ireland is one of the early Mainland boxes at the National Museum of Ireland’s Collins Barracks site in Dublin. It is the sole surviving "Ashworth" box of 1855 for the Northern District, that included all of the island of Ireland. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1296, 426 KB) Summary Old pillar box @Warwick. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1296, 426 KB) Summary Old pillar box @Warwick. ... Warwick (pronounced or War-ick (silent w in middle)) is the historic county town of Warwickshire in England and has a population of 25,434 (2001 census). ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which has a population of 2. ... The An Post logo An Post (English literal translation: The Post, English official title: The Post Office) is the State-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. ... Kent Station, Cork is an Iarnród Éireann train station, named after Thomas Kent. ... This article is about the city in the Republic of Ireland. ... -1...

Prior to 1859 there was no standard colour, although there is evidence that the lettering and Royal Cypher were sometimes picked out in gold. In 1859, a bronze green colour became standard until 1874. Initially it was thought that the green colour would be unobtrusive. Too unobtrusive, as it turned out - people kept walking into them. Red became the standard colour in 1874, although ten more years elapsed before every box in the UK had been repainted. The Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, surmounted with a crown. ...

First National Standard boxes

1st National Standard
(small size), formerly at Sandown Rd, Liverpool

Liverpool Special at Albert Dock

The first real standard design came in 1861 with the First National Standard box. These were also cast in two sizes for the first time to allow for heavier usage in big metropolitan areas. A number have survived across the UK, including Aberdeen, Brighton, Liverpool, Stoke, Worthing, London, Havant, Bristol, Congresbury, and Newport, Isle of Wight. Similar boxes have also survived in Mauritius. In the busy city of Liverpool, even these boxes could not provide the capacity and security required, so a special design was commissioned from the foundry of Cochrane Grove & Co of Dudley. Known as "Liverpool Specials", three survive from a batch of six. Two of these are in Liverpool and the other is in the BPMA collection in London. Cochrane would subsequently go on to be the foundry that made all the Penfold boxes from 1866-1879. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 330 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (895 × 1627 pixel, file size: 228 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ist National Standard pillar box at Sandown Rd liverpool photographed 2nd October 2003 by Kitmaster 18:21, 20 March 2007 (UTC) on Coolpix 885. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 330 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (895 × 1627 pixel, file size: 228 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ist National Standard pillar box at Sandown Rd liverpool photographed 2nd October 2003 by Kitmaster 18:21, 20 March 2007 (UTC) on Coolpix 885. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 695 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Author: Steve Knight aka Kitmaster Taken: Liverpool Albert Dock 24th August 2004 On: Coolpix 885 I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 695 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Author: Steve Knight aka Kitmaster Taken: Liverpool Albert Dock 24th August 2004 On: Coolpix 885 I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... For other uses, see Aberdeen (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Brighton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... This page is about Stoke-on-Trent in England. ... For other uses, see Worthing (disambiguation). ... Havant is a town and district in Hampshire on the South coast of England, between Portsmouth and Chichester. ... This article is about the English city. ... St Andrews Church, Congresbury. ... This article is about the city of Newport in Wales. ... Map sources for Dudley at grid reference SO9390 Dudley is a town in the West Midlands, England. ...

Penfolds

The most famous of the early designs is that named after the architect who designed it, J W Penfold. The Penfold boxes come in three sizes and altogether there are nine different types. They are very widespread, with the biggest accumulations in London and Cheltenham. Others are spread across England, Ireland, India (Including locally-made copies), British Guyana, Australia and New Zealand. There are no original Penfolds in Scotland, but 1989-built replicas have been erected in these areas, as well as other deserving locations where they are suitable. The first replica Penfold was erected at Tower Bridge, in London, on the south embankment and carries a commemorative plaque. Genuine Penfolds can be seen at the National Railway Museum at York, Beamish Open Air Museum, the Black Country Museum, Crich Tramway Museum and Bygones Museum in Basingstoke, whilst the Severn Valley Railway and the Talyllyn Railway both have replica Penfolds. Penfolds, distinguished by their hexagonal construction and Acanthus bud surmounting the cap, were originally exclusively city-based, but have now found their way into rural areas as well. About 300 were made, of which 150 survive. Nearly 100 replicas have also been installed. The New Zealand boxes are the only Penfolds to bear the cipher of King Edward VII; all others have the cipher of Queen Victoria. British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana. ... This article is about the country. ... For the bridge of the same name in California, see Tower Bridge (California). ... The acanthus is an ornament in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders that depicts or resembles foliage of the acanthus plant. ... Edward VII King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VII (9 November 1841–6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of the Commonwealth realms, and the Emperor of India. ...

Penfold Type PB8/1 at King's Parade, Cambridge Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1090, 294 KB) A Penfold Hexagonal postbox. ... This article is about the city in England. ...	Penfold, Edward VII type, in Dunedin, New Zealand Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1296, 555 KB) Pillar box type PB8 in Dunedin Author: User:Velela. ... Dunedin (Ōtepoti in Maori) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of Otago. ...	Replica Penfold, erected at Tower Bridge in 1989 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 331 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1061 × 1921 pixel, file size: 468 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The first Replica Penfold, installed at Tower Bridge, London, in 1989. ... For the bridge of the same name in California, see Tower Bridge (California). ...	Disused green Penfold PB8/1 outside Brecon Museum, Wales Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 398 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1361 × 2048 pixel, file size: 433 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pillar box User:Kitmaster/postbox Metadata... The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal basin at Brecon, the starting point of the Taff Trail. ... This article is about the country. ...
Penfold on St George's Crescent, Llandudno, Wales Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... , This article is about the town in Wales. ... This article is about the country. ...	Replica Penfold in Singapore for collecting special Christmas Post Image File history File links Size of this preview: 292 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (853 × 1749 pixel, file size: 343 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Replica Penfold in use in Singapore for collection of Christmas Mail. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ...	A PB8/1 Penfold at Prince Edward Rd; one of six in Cheltenham Image File history File links Size of this preview: 343 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1153 × 2016 pixel, file size: 441 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Penfold Post box at Prince Edward Rd Cheltenham photographed 15th October 2004 by Kitmaster 23:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC) File links The following pages on... For other places with the same name, see Cheltenham (disambiguation). ...	Original bronze-green livery Penfold on High St Rochester, Kent showing enamel Letters flap Image File history File links Size of this preview: 302 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (583 × 1156 pixel, file size: 148 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Penfold Postbox on High Street, Rochester Kent showing original bronxe green livery. ... , Rochester is a town in Kent, England, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ...
Queen Victoria Coat of Arms details from Penfold at the former Neyland Railway Station, Wales Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 424 pixelsFull resolution (986 × 523 pixel, file size: 62 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Detail of Coat of Arms of Queen Victoria from Penfold post box at Nayland Railway Station, Wales. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... Neyland is a town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Cleddau and the upstream end of the Milford Haven estuary. ... This article is about the country. ...

Anonymous boxes

Spiked top version Anonymous high aperture type VR box at Priory Rd Cambridge formerly adjacent to a college wall

A return to cylindrical boxes followed with the so-called Anonymous boxes of 1879. Andrew Handyside of Derby was the foundry, but omitted the Royal Cipher and the words "Post Office" leading to the Anonymous soubriquet. It took 13 years before this error was corrected, even though the box had undergone a major design change during that time. This involved lowering the position of the aperture relative to the top of the box. The original "High Aperture" design was prone to communications becoming caught under the rim of the cap. This was solved by lowering the aperture so that it falls centrally between the two raised beading lines. Consequently the second style is known as "Low Aperture". Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 3072 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 3072 pixel, file size: 2. ... Queen Victoria redirects here. ... This article is about the city in England. ... Sobriquet, a nickname or a fancy name, usually a familiar name given by others as distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise. ...

Late 19th and early 20th century boxes

New post box designs were ordered in 1887 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. For the first time there was a lamp-post mounted letter box for use in London squares, but which soon established themselves in rural areas (see lamp boxes). For the big cities, a double aperture oval shaped pillar (designated Type C) was introduced, partly to increase capacity and certainly in London, to allow mail to be pre-sorted by region, normally with apertures marked separately for "London" and "Country". All pillar and lamp boxes now had the distinctive imperial cipher of Victoria Regina, whilst the wall-mounted boxes continued to show only a block cipher VR. The new pillar box design saw out the reign and remained little changed until 1905, when the basic design was refined. A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary of a monarchs reign. ... A Georgian lamp box at Tal-y-llyn, Wales Lamp boxes are the smallest post boxes used by the Royal Mail in the UK and by its counterparts in the British Commonwealth. ...

Edward VII box with aperture on door, post 1905, fitted with Telephone direction sign

The Edward VII boxes now had the posting aperture as part of the door, rather than the body of the box. That eliminated the chance for mail to get caught up in the top of the box. This basic design remains the same today, having served well throughout the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 273 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (441 × 966 pixel, file size: 114 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A postbox of King Edward VII fitted with a very rare Telephone Direction Sign. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 273 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (441 × 966 pixel, file size: 114 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A postbox of King Edward VII fitted with a very rare Telephone Direction Sign. ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... Edward VII King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VII (Albert Edward) (9 November 1841–6 May 1910) was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... King Edward VIII King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King of Ireland Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VIII, (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David), later His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor (23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was the second British monarch of the House... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George) (December 14, 1895 - February 6, 1952) was the third British monarch of the House of Windsor, reigning from December 11, 1936 to February 6, 1952. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary [1]; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, and their respective overseas territories and dependencies. ...

An experiment of 1932 was the addition of a Stamp Vending Machine to the end of the post box. This necessitated an oval planform for the box even though it was only provided with a single posting aperture. At one end of the oval is the stamp machine and at the other is the posting aperture. The boxes have two doors; one for clearance of mail and one for emptying the cash and reloading the stamp machines. The machines were set to vend two halfpenny stamps in exchange for one old penny, the stamps being supplied in a long continuously wound roll known as a coil. Boxes were again made in two sizes, designated Type D and Type E, and carried raised lettering on the castings indicating the position of the stamp vending machine, as well as an array of small enamel plates warning users of the danger of bent coins and the need to wait for stamps to be issued before inserting more money. Several of each have survived in use in England and in the Isle of Man. A stamp vending machine (SVM) is a mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical device which can be used to automatically vend postage stamps to users in exchange for a pre-determined amount of money, normally in coin. ... Half penny may mean: British coin Half Penny Irish halfpenny coin ... This article is about the coin. ... The word enamel can mean more than one thing: Tooth enamel Vitreous enamel Enamel (markup language) Enameled wire This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

A Edward VII pillar box in front of a K6 Telephone box. K2 red telephone boxes behind Enzo Plazzottas bronze, Young Dancer, on Broad Street, Covent Garden, London A K6 red telephone box in Oxford The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was a once familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom. ...	A George V pillar box in Gibraltar Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (462x960, 112 KB) Summary en: Gibraltar: mailbox pl: Skrzynka pocztowa na Gibraltarze Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pillar box Metadata This file contains additional information...	A father and daughter pair: George VI and Elizabeth II pillar boxes at Bembridge Post Office Isle of Wight Image File history File links Size of this preview: 541 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (777 × 861 pixel, file size: 75 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A George VI and an Elizabeth II post box together at Bembridge Post Office, Isle of Wight. ... , Bembridge is a village and civil parish[1] located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. ... For other uses, see Isle of Wight (disambiguation). ...	A PB27/1 pillar of George V, fitted with a Post Office Direction Sign (POD) at the Colne Valley Postal History Museum, Essex Image File history File links Size of this preview: 286 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (289 × 606 pixel, file size: 50 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A George V post box fitted with a Post Office Direction sign. ... For other meanings of Essex, see Essex (disambiguation). ...
1932 Type E pillar box with integral SVM at Ealing Village Image File history File links Size of this preview: 415 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1012 × 1462 pixel, file size: 306 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) 1932 Pillar box with stamp machine at Ealing Village taken by Phil Deller 15/11/2006 on SonyKitmaster 18:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC) File links... , Ealing is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. ...

Air Mail

A rare Air Mail box in original colour scheme, now at the Isle of Wight Postal Museum

In 1932, the Air Mail service commenced in Great Britain with special services operated by Imperial Airways. To facilitate easy collection of air mail and its speedy onward transmission, a fleet of special vehicles and dedicated postboxes were introduced. To distinguish them from regular post boxes, they were painted Air Force blue, with prominent royal blue signage. The service ran successfully until the outbreak of war in 1939, when it was suspended. Although Air Mail re-commenced after the War, the postboxes and vehicles were no longer identifiable, as Air Mail could now be posted anywhere. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 330 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (925 × 1681 pixel, file size: 272 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Air Mail Pillar in original colours. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 330 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (925 × 1681 pixel, file size: 272 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Air Mail Pillar in original colours. ... Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. ... The Imperial Airways Empire Terminal, Victoria, London. ...

Queen Elizabeth II

The next major design change came in 1968 with the introduction of the Type F pillar box. This was conceived by Vandyke Engineering and proposed to the Post Office as a cheaper alternative to the traditional cast box. It was fabricated in sheet steel with welded construction. Unfortunately, the British climate did not suit the use of galvanised steel (a problem often seen with the 1940 and 1988 pattern of lamp box) and the Vandyke pillars soon began to rust badly. The very last one was removed from service at Colmore Row in Birmingham in 2002. A Georgian lamp box at Tal-y-llyn, Wales Lamp boxes are the smallest post boxes used by the Royal Mail in the UK and by its counterparts in the British Commonwealth. ... This article is about the British city. ...

In 1974 the Post Office experimented with a similar rectangular design known as Type G. This was made in traditional cast iron by the foundry of Carron Company in Stirling, Scotland. It was an operational success, but the public disliked the "square" designs and petitioned the Post Office for a return to cylindrical boxes. Broad Street at the heart of Stirlings Old Town area (called Top of the Town by locals) Stirling Castle (Southwest aspect) The main courtyard inside Stirling Castle. ...

The Post Office commissioned a new design of pillar box in 1980 from a panel of three competing designers. The competition was won by Tony Gibbs and his design, which was thought to be ultra-modern at the time, was designated Type K by the Post Office. Made in traditional cast iron, it stayed in production until 2000. Notable features included: replaceable lifting ring screwed in to the dome of the box, body and roof of box cast as one piece, large easy-to-read collection time plate, all surface details and collection plate window recessed to give a perfect cylindrical outline, integral restrictor plate, know colloquially as a "Belfast Flap" to restrict posting to letters only and a flanged shallow base suitable for installation in modern buildings, shopping centres and other urban areas. These boxes were thus much easier to move and handle as they could be rolled over level ground or lifted by crane into position. The design had one major flaw in the area of the door hinge, which is prone to snap under stress and the K type pillar boxes are no longer being installed. This article is about the capital city of Northern Ireland. ...

All new pillar boxes for use in the UK are Type A traditional pillars or Type C oval pillars from the foundry of Machan Engineering, Denny, Scotland. Exceptions to this are the Supermarket or "Inside" boxes supplied by Broadwater Mouldings Ltd of Eye, Suffolk and the sheet steel "Garage" boxes supplied directly by RoMEC (Royal Mail Engineering Contracts Ltd).

Type K Pillar box of Elizabeth II fitted with a "Post Office Direction" sign Image File history File links Size of this preview: 397 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1851 × 2796 pixel, file size: 612 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Type K Pillar box photographed 1/1/07 at colne Valley Postal History Museum by Kitmaster 11:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC) File links The following...	Unusual bracket carrying a Post Office "Lozenge" fitted to a Type K Pillar at Easter Compton, S. Gloucs Image File history File links Size of this preview: 326 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (507 × 931 pixel, file size: 94 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Type K pillar fitted with a Post Office Lozenge at Easter Compton, S.Gloucs photographed July 2005 by Kitmaster 23:47, 21 March 2007 (UTC... The Post Office at Easter Compton Easter Compton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. ... South Gloucestershire is a local government area in South West England. ...	A glass-fibre pillar box of the type frequently seen in British supermarkets, made by Broadwater Mouldings Ltd of Eye, Suffolk. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 310 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1041 × 2011 pixel, file size: 220 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A glass-fibre pillar box for use in Supermarkets. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ...	Modern Royal Mail branded EiiR double pillar box, Menai Bridge. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x1296, 311 KB) Summary Modern double pillar-box @Menai Bridge, North Wales Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Pillar box ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Menai Bridge (Welsh: ) is a town on the island of Anglesey in Wales. ...
A rare double pillar box by Vandyke Engineering (1968) at the BPMA Store, Debden, Essex. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 416 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1681 × 2421 pixel, file size: 587 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Rare double pillar box by Vandyke Engineering at BPMA Store, Debden, Essex. ... There are two places in the English county of Essex named Debden: A village in the north of Essex with a well-known aerodrome - see Debden, North Essex A suburb of the town of Loughton, in the south of Essex - see Debden, South Essex This is a disambiguation page — a...	A Guernsey Post Elizabeth II Type C double pillar box. Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 387 KB)Picture of a Guernsey Post post box, in St Peter Port, Guernsey. ... A Guernsey Post pillar box. ...	A prototype Post Office Suite by Ideo Design from 1989, now in the BPMA store, London Image File history File links Size of this preview: 364 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1841 × 3031 pixel, file size: 614 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ideo Design POS at BPMA DEbden Store by Kitmaster 13:09, 26 March 2007 (UTC) on 14/7/07 File links The following pages on the...	One of the last Colonial postboxes in Hong Kong, a Scottish Crown Type C in Central. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 432 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (679 × 943 pixel, file size: 115 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Hong Kong Central Type C Scottish Crown post box photo 24/7/07 by Kitmaster 21:19, 22 March 2007 (UTC) on Coolpix 885 File links...
Type K Pillar box of Elizabeth II in Hong Kong.

Scotland

Stylised version of the Crown of Scotland, part of the Scottish Regalia

In Scotland there were protests when the first boxes made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II were produced. These bore the cypher "E II R" but Scottish nationalists objected because Queen Elizabeth is the first Queen of Scotland and of the United Kingdom to bear that name, Elizabeth I having been Queen of England only. This was surprising, because there are a number of earlier Edward VIII boxes in Scotland and yet that monarch was not the eighth King Edward in Scotland. After several EiiR pillar boxes were blown up by improvised explosive devices, The General Post Office (as it was at that time) replaced them with ones which only bore the Crown of Scotland and no Royal cypher. Red telephone boxes or kiosks of type K6 were also treated in the same way. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Crowns modern usage: The Crown of Scotland at the opening of the Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood in 2004. ... The Honours of Scotland The Honours of Scotland, also known as the Scottish regalia and the Scottish crown jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are the oldest set of Crown Jewels in the British Isles and are the second oldest in Europe. ... This article is about the country. ... In the early 1950s, following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II there was strong objections to her title being used in Scotland, as she was the first Elizabeth to be queen of Scots. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Walter Thomas Monningtons 1925 painting called Parliamentary Union of England and Scotland 1707 hangs in the Palace of Westminster depicting the official presentation of the law that ended Scottish independence. ... The British monarch or Sovereign is the monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen-in-Parliament) legislative power. ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ... Munitions rigged for an IED discovered by Iraqi police in Baghdad, November 2005. ... The term General Post Office is or has been used by a number of postal and telecommunications governmental administrations worldwide, including: United Kingdom until 1969, see Post Office UK. After 1981 see Royal Mail for a continuing history of the British Post Office. ... The Crowns modern usage: The Crown of Scotland at the opening of the Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood in 2004. ... K2 red telephone boxes behind Enzo Plazzottas bronze, Young Dancer, on Broad Street, Covent Garden, London A K6 red telephone box in Oxford The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was a once familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom. ...

Clearance

Post boxes are emptied ("cleared") at times usually listed on the box in a TOC, Times of Collection, plate affixed to the box.

Since 2005, most British post boxes have had the time of only the last collection of the day listed on the box, with no indication of whether the box is cleared at other times earlier in the day. The reason given for this by the Royal Mail is that they needed to increase the font size of the wording on the "plate" listing the collection times to improve legibility for those with poor sight and that consequently there was insufficient room for listing all collection times throughout the day. The "Next Collection" tablet, where fitted, was usually retained in these cases, but tablets now merely show the day of the week, indicating whether or not the last collection has been cleared that day. ^[5][6]

Terrorism

During 1939 a number of bombs were put in post boxes by the IRA as part of their S-Plan campaign. When the IRA bombed the Arndale shopping centre, during the 1996 Manchester City Centre bombing one of the only things to survive unscathed was a Victorian pillar box dating from 1887 (A type B Jubilee pillar). The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. ... The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic, and military infrastructure of Britain 1939 – 1940. ... Arndale Centres are a large chain of shopping centres in the United Kingdom - they were the first American-style malls to be constructed in the UK. The first centre was built in Jarrow in 1961, and was followed by developments in Leeds, Luton, London, Bradford, Aberdeen, Poole and other British... The Manchester City Centre bombing was a terrorist attack in Manchester, England by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). ...

Irish Independence

Repaired door on green 1887 VR Jubilee box in Kilkenny, Ireland

Following Irish independence in 1922, existing British pillar boxes were retained, and simply painted green. Many of these are extant around the country, retaining the monogram of the monarch who reigned at the time of the box's installation. The Department of Posts and Telegraphs continued installing similar pillar boxes and wall boxes, but with the initials SÉ (for Saorstát Éireann), a harp or the P & T logo, instead of a monarch's monogram. Since 1984 An Post, the current Irish postal authority, use the An Post logo to adorn their posting boxes. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 448 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1936 × 2592 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 448 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1936 × 2592 pixel, file size: 3. ... Queen Victoria redirects here. ... For other uses, see Kilkenny (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links P&T_(Ireland). ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Irish An t-Áire Puist agus Telegrafa) was a senior Irish government minister from 1924 to 1984, when the post and the department was abolished. ... The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) (1922–1937) was the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties that were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and... The Coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as azure a harp or, stringed argent - a gold harp with silver strings on a St. ... The An Post logo An Post (English literal translation: The Post, English official title: The Post Office) is the State-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. ... A postal authority organises collection and delivery of domestic mail (US), or post (UK), within its area of control, or in the case of foreign mail, delivery to or receipt of mail from other postal authorities. ...

Popular culture

The 1980s–1990s British cartoon DangerMouse featured the title character and his assistant living in a red pillar box in London. The sidekick's name was, likely by no coincidence, Penfold; however this pillar box did not resemble the Penfold hexagonal style. In 1999, McDonald's Restaurants issued a promotional toy featuring DC Thomson character Roger the Dodger hiding inside a red pillar box DangerMouse is a British animated television series which was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Penfold (disambiguation). ... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. ... D. C. Thomson & Co. ... Roger the Dodger is a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. ...

UK comic strip "Desperate Dan" about fictional characters in the US "wild west" showed Dan posting a letter in a pillar box. These were not used in the US.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mailboxes

• Lamp box
• Ludlow wall box
• Wall box

A Georgian lamp box at Tal-y-llyn, Wales Lamp boxes are the smallest post boxes used by the Royal Mail in the UK and by its counterparts in the British Commonwealth. ... // A page from a 1910 Ludlow advertising brochure In the UK, a Ludlow post box is a post box where mail is deposited to be collected by the Royal Mail and forwarded to the addressee. ... Wall boxes are a type of post box or letter box found in the UK and commonwealth countries. ...

References