Wall boxes
There are over 20,000 wall boxes in use in the UK and the BPMA letter box collection includes over 60 wall boxes. These represent their evolution from the first introduction of wall boxes in 1857 to the time when they stopped being made in 1980.
Wall boxes did not change dramatically throughout this time. The collection portrays the small changes that did occur and the different types that were introduced.
The collection also includes wall boxes used in Sub-Post Offices. This includes the more common types manufactured by James Ludlow with distinctive enamel plates (see Post Office Counter Services for an example). We also hold examples of rarer types of these made by the Eagle Range and Foundry Company. The collection also features wall boxes from Hong Kong and large freestanding wall boxes used in railway stations.
Wall boxes were first introduced in 1857 to deal with the ever-increasing volume of mail. They satisfied a need for smaller, cheaper letter boxes in rural areas in addition to the existing larger pillar boxes in towns.
Here are four examples of wall boxes in our collection:
Second Standard Number 2 Type wall box, 1861, accession number: OB1994.53
This
box is an example of the Second Standard type. This was first introduced in 1859 and
manufactured by Smith and Hawkes. The first standard wall box introduced in 1857 was found to be seriously deficient as a lot of water entered the box. A pedimented top and hood were added to the first standard in 1859 to try to prevent this problem.
The second standard included the hood and pediment and also differed in that it has a wire guard inside to stop letters falling out when the door was opened. The addition of small holes at the bottom of the box was added to this design to drain out water that had managed to enter the box.
This box is an example of the smaller size of the second standard, box number 2. This smaller size was made as extra because the improvements made meant the second standard cost twice as much to make as the first standard. Boxes like this one would have been used mainly in rural areas. In 1861 the hood was extended by one inch to give increased protection, this box has this extended hood.
Number 1 Type wall box, 1861 – 1871, accession number: OB1998.553/1
This
box is an example of the larger size of a new number 1 type box made between
1861 and 1871. It was manufactured by Smith and Hawkes.
This box was the result of further improvements introduced in 1861. The keyhole was fitted with a protective covering. A door pull was added and the box became wider. The inside corners of the box were also rounded to prevent letters being unseen by the postman clearing the box. The wire work guard had also been abandoned but from 1862, they included a wire grating to keep letters off the bottom of the box. They were again available in two sizes.
This box is green in colour as letter boxes did not become red until 1874 (although many earlier ones were subsequently repainted). The lettering and cypher of Victoria on this are silver, which was probably not original. The enamel collection tablet must have been added at a later date as though they were suggested as part of the improvements in 1861, tablets were not adopted until 1881.
The BPMA purchased this box at auction in 1997, along with three other wall boxes. Before this they had been part of the private collection of Bill Sait, who restored the boxes to their former colour and condition.
This box was later to become the type ‘B’ box as in 1871 a larger size was introduced and designated the ‘A’ type. Types ‘1’ and ‘2’ became the ‘B’ (medium) and ‘C’ (small) types. The type B is the box you are most likely to see in the streets today.
F Type Wall Box, 1930s, accession number: OB1994.69
This is an example of an 'F' type box introduced in the 1930s alongside two other new types of wall box - the 'D' and the 'E' types. All three were introduced for use in Sub-Post Offices.
These were the same as the ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ types except they had a door on the back for emptying post from inside the Sub-Post Office. The boxes also did not include a collection plate or tablet as the times of collection were displayed inside the Post Office window. The F type was the smallest of the three, equivalent to the C type. This one dates from the reign of George V.
It was manufactured by W T Allen and Company who won the contract for the supply of wall boxes from 1881. They became the main supplier until they ceased being manufactured.
This box also has a modified aperture. For many years the standard aperture width had been 8 inches. A census in 1949, however, revealed that there were 100,000 boxes in service that had apertures smaller than this.
Between 1956 and 1965, after many complaints from the public, contractors were engaged to modify the smaller boxes (types C and F) in situ. They did this by cutting out the aperture and fitting a new cast over it.
Station Wall Box, 1901 – 1904, accession number: OB1996.625
This
is a different type of box. It was based on a wall box but actually freestanding. This is even larger than the A type wall box
and was used at Waterloo
station.
It was originally a single aperture box but was modified to make it double aperture, for First and Second Class mail. The apertures are now closed. We have another similar freestanding wall box in the collection but these boxes are very rare.
This box has the scroll Edward VII cypher. Wall boxes of Edward VII’s reign started off with a plain cypher but a new contract with W T Allen in 1904 meant further changes, one of which being the redesign to the scroll cypher used on pillar boxes. These boxes, however being larger in size had this type of cypher from 1901.
