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The Great British Post Box Show-Off

(vero;2021-December-10)

One of our habits when walking around towns and villages is to keep an eye for old post boxes; we find it fascinating that old Victorian post boxes are still around and discovering one of the rare Edward VIII ones is a real treat. The first post boxes in the UK were erected in the town of Saint-Hélier, Jersey on 23 November 1852, the first one on mainland Britain was put up in Carlisle, Cumbria in 1853. There are three types of British post boxes: the free-standing pillar box, the lamp box attached to a post and the wall box embedded into a wall. Check this blog article on the website of the postal museum in London for a brief history of post boxes in Great Britain.

Post boxes are much loved features of the British landscape and you might well run into some decorated with a knitted top to mark some special events (like X-Mas, Valentine's Day, Spring, a royal ceremony, etc). This is a hobby which has become a bit of a phenomenon during the Covid19 pandemic. There is a Facebook group where people share their creations and this blog page also tells you everything about toppers with patterns and even a list of locations... Some are very imaginative and beautiful, just have a look!

Arundel, West Sussex: a wall box with the cypher VR for Victoria Regina. There are still many VR post boxes around, they have been put up between 1853 and 1901, the end of her reign. This box has seen many layers of paint!

Sydmonton, Hampshire: similar VR model as in the previous picture, but in much better shape. The slot containing the collection information is slightly different.

Upper Wootton, Hampshire: another VR wall box, a bit longer and wider than the previous ones. The lock, the information slot and the hood over the letter slit are slightly different.

Another example of a VR wall box but with yet a slightly different design: check the position of the lock and the different collection information slot. The left one can be found in Ibworth, Hampshire. The right one in much better shape is in the village of Chilcomb, Hampshire.

Gibraltar: of course, British post boxes have been also introduced in the British Oversea Territories and ancient colonies. This one is a fine example of a pillar box with an elegant VR Royal Cypher. Click to read about Royal Cyphers.

Rochester, Kent: a GREEN VR pillar box! Read this article if you want to know everything about green post boxes.

Two VR pillar boxes: same model but what a different look… On the left in Windsor, Berkshire: this one looks posh with its unusual ornate top and an elegant VR Royal Cypher. On the right in the city of Durham, county Durham: the same model but quite boring in conventional red.

Eton: a nice pillar box in fluted design with an unusual letter slit. I am pretty sure that the Royal Cypher is the one of Victoria, to be confirmed next time we go there.

Windsor, Berkshire: change of monarch. This wall box sports the Royal Cypher ER VII for Edward VII Rex and must have been put up during his reign between 1901 and 1910.

Oakley, Hampshire: an ER VII wall box. At first sight it is easy to be mistaken for a ER II box (Elizabeth Regina), the VII letters vs II for Elizabeth give it away.

Dummer, Hampshire: same ER VII model as in the previous picture but with much more paint…

Dummer, Hampshire: look closer… some birds have moved into this post box for nesting! Hence the warning tacked on the post. By the way, this is also one of our best trophies, the only lamp box of our collection. The Royal Cypher GR for George Rex tells us that it has been put up during the reign of George V between 1910 and 1936. Unfortunately this particular box has been dismounted in 2020. It does not exist anymore.

Windsor, Berkshire: another rare find, a GR pillar box painted blue. Blue boxes have been introduced in the 1930s for posting airmail letters and the different colour made sure that users would post their letters in the right box. From 1939 blue airmail boxes were removed, repainted red and re-entered service for standard mail. This one standing on the site of the old post office must be a rare survivor and is purely commemorative: as advertised by the poster on the right, it is not in use anymore.

Windsor, Berkshire: another GR wall box with the Royal Cypher at an unusual place.

Avington, Berkshire: GR wall box in a different design than the one in the previous picture. It is thinner and shorter, very similar to some of our VR wall boxes.

London: the master piece of our collection, one of the few pillar boxes with the Royal Cypher ER VIII for Edward VIII with attached stamps dispenser. It must have been put up during his short reign between 20 January 1936 and 11 December 1936, before he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.

London: same box as in the previous picture with a close-up of the shiny ER VIII Royal Cypher.

Gibraltar: a pillar box with the elegant Royal Cypher of George VI, put up during his reign between 1936 and 1952.

Winchester, Hampshire: close-up of George VI's Royal Cypher.

Colombo, Sri-Lanka: same model of pillar box as in the previous picture, but painted in green.

Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: a particularly nice George VI wall box.

Normanby Le Wold, Lincolnshire: another George VI wall box, but different style and not in a very good shape.

Basingstoke, Hampshire: an Elizabeth II pillar box decorated by one of the many UK post box topper knitters.