Paul's Unofficial Letterbox Pages: History of British Letter Boxes - Part 1
Victorian Letter Boxes
Most houses in Britain have a letter box in the front door, usually a simple slot with a flap over it, through which the post is delivered each morning. The Post Office first encouraged people to provide these in 1849. Similar letter boxes were provided at post offices for people sending letters. One such letter box which was originally in the wall of the Wakefield Post Office has the date 1809 on it and is probably the oldest British letter box still in existence.
- Channel Islands Pillar Box c.1853 (OB1996.653) The first pillar boxes. The first trial was considered a success and boxes began appearing on the British mainland from 1853. During this initial period, design, manufacture and erection of boxes was mostly the responsibility of local surveyors.
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- For other uses, see Mailbox. Post boxes in Australia The yellow box is for express mail.
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In 1840 Rowland Hill suggested the idea of roadside letter boxes for Britain. Letter boxes of this kind were already being used in countries such as France, Belgium and Germany. However there were no roadside letter boxes in the British Isles until 1852, when the first pillar boxes were erected at St Hellier in Jersey at the recommendation of Anthony Trollope, who was working as a Surveyor's Clerk for the Post Office.
Use a box that's big enough to safely fit what you're sending. Try to stick to standard.
In 1853 the first pillar box on the British mainland was erected at Botchergate, Carlise. A similar box from the same year still stands at Barnes Cross, Bishop's Caundle in Dorset. It is the oldest pillar box still in use on the mainland. Most of the early boxes were similar in design to the Channel Island boxes, but there were some interesting variations.
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Only photos and a few odd parts remain of London's first pillar box which was at the corner of Fleet Street and Farringdon Street.
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In 1856 Richard Redgrave of the Department of Science and Art designed an ornate pillar box for use in London and other large cities. An example of one of these boxes, which would have been painted bronze, is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum. A less ornate version was used in other towns and cities. In 1859 the design was improved by moving the aperture from the top to below the rim and this became the first National Standard pillar box. The one exception to this standard is the Liverpool Special of 1863.
Green was adopted as the standard colour for the early Victorian boxes. Between 1866 and 1879 the hexagonal Penfold became the standard design for pillar boxes and it was during this period that red was first adopted as the standard colour. The first boxes to be painted red were in London in July 1874, although it took 10 years before nearly all the boxes had been repainted.
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In 1879 came the cylindrical design of pillar box, which apart from a few recent experiments has changed very little since. The early boxes had no royal cipher and are known as 'anonymous' boxes. This oversight was corrected from 1887 when the words POST OFFICE were also placed either side of the aperture.
The cylindrical boxes came in two sizes, 'A' (larger) and 'B' (smaller). The oval type 'C' boxes with separate apertures for town and country first appeared in London in 1899. Lamp boxes, for use in areas where the amount of post is small, first started to be used generally from around 1897. Although designed to be attached to a lamp post they may also be found attached to telegraph poles, their own post or even set in a wall. The first proper roadside wall boxes had been in use from about 1857. Ludlow boxes, named after the Birmingham manufacturer James Ludlow, were made for use at sub-post offices between 1885 and 1965. Manufactured from sheet metal and wood with distinctive enamel plates they were more prone to rot than cast iron boxes.
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Copyright © Paul Wicks 2002
Subcategories
This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total.
E
- ►Queen Victoria post boxes in England (18 C, 287 F)
N
- ► Queen Victoria post boxes in Northern Ireland (9 F)
S
- ►Queen Victoria postboxes in Scotland (1 C, 18 F)
W
Media in category 'Queen Victoria post boxes in the United Kingdom'
Wedding Post Box
The following 54 files are in this category, out of 54 total.
- 19th Century post box, Lower Wood - geograph.org.uk - 443505.jpg480 × 640; 115 KB
- Blists Hill Display in the Post Office of a Victorian post box.JPG7,310 × 4,836; 8.62 MB
- BLW Collection times on a Green Victorian Letter Box.jpg2,592 × 3,888; 2.72 MB
- BLW Green Victorian Penfold Pillar Box.jpg2,592 × 3,888; 3.17 MB
- BLW Type C Pillar Box.jpg2,592 × 3,888; 2.74 MB
- BS39 178 - Flickr - BazzaDaRambler (1).jpg4,340 × 3,260; 3.18 MB
- BS39 178 - Flickr - BazzaDaRambler.jpg3,240 × 4,320; 3.27 MB
- Post box Victoria (5970832796).jpg1,024 × 768; 263 KB
- 'Hedgehog' Postbox - geograph.org.uk - 485132.jpg425 × 639; 274 KB
- Victorian postbox in Windsor Avenue Radyr.JPG2,304 × 3,072; 3.25 MB
- Victorian postbox, Bidston Road - geograph.org.uk - 531803.jpg426 × 640; 149 KB
- Last collection - geograph.org.uk - 1429689.jpg400 × 600; 77 KB
- Post box in the wall - geograph.org.uk - 1429686.jpg400 × 600; 72 KB
- Dan Winters Cottage, July 2013 (04).JPG3,456 × 5,184; 5.38 MB
- Detail of Chatham Dockyard A box.JPG2,048 × 1,536; 995 KB
- Idbury VRwallbox.jpg1,800 × 3,000; 2.28 MB
- Late Post. - geograph.org.uk - 473846.jpg333 × 500; 58 KB
- London Ornate pillar box.jpg2,024 × 2,699; 3.31 MB
- Victorian Wall postbox - geograph.org.uk - 759495.jpg640 × 480; 118 KB
- NetherWorton VRwallbox.jpg1,770 × 2,950; 2.41 MB
- Old postbox in wall - geograph.org.uk - 260708.jpg480 × 640; 106 KB
- Victorian Postbox - geograph.org.uk - 1775746.jpg480 × 640; 323 KB
- Prince Edward Rd.jpg1,153 × 2,016; 441 KB
- Queen Victoria Postbox, Westbury Station, Wiltshire, England.jpg3,377 × 2,719; 1.93 MB
- SandfordStMartin VRwallbox.jpg1,770 × 2,950; 1.95 MB
- SulhamsteadAbbots ChurchCottage PostBox.jpg718 × 1,280; 480 KB
- Post Box Victoria (8062156495).jpg1,280 × 960; 939 KB
- Victorian Postbox, Tisbury - geograph.org.uk - 884414.jpg480 × 640; 91 KB
- Totnes - Eastgate 20181026-04 VR PO box.jpg2,219 × 3,329; 3.43 MB
- UK 1989 (4524524834).jpg2,158 × 3,377; 5.94 MB
- Post box at Uphall - geograph.org.uk - 842388.jpg640 × 480; 102 KB
- Victorian letter box - geograph.org.uk - 531446.jpg640 × 485; 98 KB
- Victorian letter box, Meltham Mills Road, Meltham - geograph.org.uk - 1339965.jpg609 × 640; 154 KB
- Victorian Post Box - geograph.org.uk - 1037801.jpg640 × 480; 160 KB
- Victorian post box - geograph.org.uk - 1440868.jpg480 × 640; 126 KB
- Victorian Post Box - Main Street - geograph.org.uk - 1366492.jpg407 × 640; 217 KB
- Victorian post box, Waddeton - geograph.org.uk - 1170092.jpg640 × 480; 118 KB
- Victorian postbox - geograph.org.uk - 1595513.jpg427 × 640; 207 KB
- Victorian postbox at Aylesbury Station - geograph.org.uk - 1306678.jpg427 × 640; 69 KB
- Victorian postbox at Buck's Mills - geograph.org.uk - 1387488.jpg427 × 640; 106 KB
- Victorian postbox at Rhiwlas - geograph.org.uk - 270170.jpg480 × 640; 108 KB
- Victorian postbox Netherton - geograph.org.uk - 1108872.jpg640 × 429; 55 KB
- Victorian postbox on the Isle of Luing - geograph.org.uk - 168773.jpg480 × 640; 199 KB
- Victorian postbox, Castle Road - geograph.org.uk - 673616.jpg480 × 640; 140 KB
- Victorian postbox, East Woodlands - geograph.org.uk - 1149622.jpg480 × 640; 230 KB
- Victorian postbox, Garway - geograph.org.uk - 1181137.jpg640 × 473; 442 KB
- Victorian postbox, near Letterston - geograph.org.uk - 1502300.jpg640 × 480; 125 KB
- Victorian postbox, Netherton - geograph.org.uk - 1108878.jpg640 × 429; 91 KB
- VR Ludlow, Matlock Green.JPG1,920 × 2,560; 2.86 MB
- VR pillar box, Hillsborough - geograph.org.uk - 336750.jpg640 × 426; 134 KB
- VR postbox, Parrog Road - geograph.org.uk - 1504577.jpg411 × 640; 81 KB
- VR wallbox ... (3066757798).jpg1,280 × 960; 232 KB
- Waterbeach, Victorian postbox No. CB25 512 - geograph.org.uk - 1446883.jpg480 × 640; 83 KB
- Westbourne, postbox No. BH4 47, Surrey Road - geograph.org.uk - 950149.jpg640 × 480; 123 KB
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