Postboxes

Before 1840 most items of post had to be paid for by the recipient and the charges depended on how far they were being sent and how many pieces of paper they contained.  Postage costs were too high for most people to afford.  In 1837 social reformer Rowland Hill proposed reforms to the postal system, which included the introduction of a single postage rate of one penny for all standard weight (up to half an ounce) letters, which would be paid by the sender. The world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was introduced in 1840. 

However people wishing to send letters had to take them to the nearest letter receiving office, which could be miles away.  A growth in use of the postal service after 1840 led to the need for many more convenient locations where stamped letters could be deposited. The novelist Anthony Trollope, who worked for the General Post Office, saw roadside post boxes in France.   He trialled the use of locked cast-iron pillar boxes with regular collection times on Jersey in 1852 and they were introduced to mainland Britain in 1853.

Some of the early post boxes were hexagonal in shape but a wide variety of designs were used.  Boxes inserted into walls were introduced in 1857.  In 1859 an improved cylindrical shape pillar box, with its posting aperture located beneath a cap to protect it from rainwater, was introduced for standard use.  By 1859 the colour for post boxes was standardised as dark green but this colour made them difficult for people to find them.  The standard colour was changed to bright red in 1874, although it was another decade before all the post boxes were repainted red.

Lamp post boxes were introduced in 1896.  These were designed to be attached to lampposts but they were also attached to telegraph poles, set on their own posts or set into walls.  

Around 800 different designs for post boxes have been used so far and new designs are still being produced. 

Post boxes usually have the insignia of the monarch reigning at the time of placement.  60% of UK post boxes currently in use have EIIR for Queen Elizabeth II or a Scottish crown on them, 15% have the insignia of King George V and the remainder in descending order are from the reigns of George VI, Victoria, Edward VII and Edward VIII.  There are only 171 from the very short reign of Edward VIII in 1936 but one of these is located on the junction of Kenn Road with St Michael’s Avenue in Clevedon.

 

Rare Edward VIII pillar box in Clevedon

Replica Victorian Penfold pillar box on Weston-super-Mare Seafront

George VI wall box, High Street, Stogumber

 

Queen Victoria wall box on the western outskirts of North Petherton

 

Gold pillar box, Trull, Taunton

To celebrate British competitors' gold medal winning performances at the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 Royal Mail painted a post box in each of the gold medal winners' home towns.  The only gold post box in Somerset is located outside Trull Post Office on Church Road, Trull.  It commemorates the gold medal won by paralympian Deborah Criddle in the Team Dressage event.  She also won silver medals in the Individual and Freestyle events, all with the horse LJT Akilles. 

Royal Mail painted 110 post boxes gold across the UK and a list of their locations can be found on this website:   http://www.goldpostboxes.com/ In November 2012 Royal Mail announced that the gold post boxes would remain gold permanently.

Queen Victoria Wallbox, Howleigh near Blagdon Hill

Queen Victoria Wallbox, Ash Priors

Queen Victoria Pillar Box, New Street, Wells

 

Edward VII wallbox  at Churchstanton

 

George V pillar box, St Augustine's Street, Taunton

Of course, the other purpose of pillar boxes is to provide something for dogs to urinate up, which is clearly what had happened here shortly before my visit!

 

Unusual George V wall box in Brompton Ralph

 

George V wall box at the Old Post Office, Stawell

 

In May 2019 the Royal Mail painted a post box royal blue close to each of the venues used to host matches for the ICC Cricket World Cup.  Taunton's County Ground was used for 3 matches and Taunton's blue post box was in North Street.



 

ICC Cricket World Cup blue postbox, North Street, Taunton

 

Front of the blue postbox in North Street, Taunton

When England won the Cricket World Cup on 14th July 2019, Royal Mail commemorated the event by painting the blue postbox in North Street, Taunton white.  Some time later they painted it red again.

White post box, North Street, Taunton

White post box, North Street, Taunton

Plaque on the white post box, North Street, Taunton

The plaque also commemorates the victory by England's women's cricket team in their World Cup competition in July 2017.