Post box

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A free-standing early twentieth century George 5th cast-iron pillar box located on the edge of the pavement in Malone Conservation Area in Balmoral Avenue near to the junction with Harberton Avenue.

This pillar box is of standard design and painted in ‘pillar box red’ throughout except for the base which is black and carries its maker’s name - ‘CARRON COMPANY STIRLINGSHIRE’. It stands 5ft 0in high and measures 21in/15½ in/17in in diameter around its cap, shaft and base respectively. The rear of the box has 4 bolts set into the cylinder.

Below its shallow oversailing cap, the edge of which is fluted, is the door, hinged at left and with a raised cup handle at the right with the keyhole above. At the top of the door is a hooded rectangular aperture through which the letters are inserted into the box. Above the aperture is a small holder containing a removable plate showing the day of the next collection – with beside it ‘NEXT COLLECTION’ in raised letters.
Below the aperture is a notice plate holder containing details of collection days/times and the number of this particular box (BT9 463D)

Below the notice plate holder is a ‘GR’ cipher with a raised crown above and ‘POST OFFICE below.

Historical information

This pillar box close to 49 Balmoral Avenue was erected sometime between 1920 and 1931, appearing for the first time on the OS town plan of the latter year.

The first pillar boxes in the British Isles were introduced in 1853 but the idea of introducing roadside letter boxes was originally suggested in 1840 by Rowland Hill (reformer of the British postal system). By the end of the 19th century, the postal network throughout the United Kingdom had been transformed with the installation of pillar boxes and wall-mounted post boxes in large urban centres. In 1889 J. Wilson Hyde (Superintendent of Edinburgh’s General Post Office) wrote that ‘so much has it become the custom in these later times for the Post Office to afford facilities to the public in whatever will tend to increase the business of the Department, that in all large towns pillar boxes or branch offices are dotted about everywhere at short distances, thus altering the conditions which formerly obtained, when the chief office was the great central point where correspondence had to be deposited for dispatch’ (Hyde, p. 278).

The iconic red cylindrical pillar boxes were first introduced in Britain in 1879 and were almost identical in design to the example. The only major changes that have been made to the design of British pillar boxes between 1879 and the 1950s have been to the height of the letter aperture and the design of the Royal ciphers inscribed upon them. The first cylindrical pillar boxes did not possess a Royal cipher on their door and were unofficially known as ‘anonymous boxes.’ This design fault was not rectified until 1887 when the doors of all new pillar boxes were inscribed with the letters ‘VR’ (Victoria Regina) and the words ‘POST OFFICE’ were inserted on either side of the aperture. This particular box, marked ‘GR’ dates from the reign of King George V (1911-36), map evidence (as stated above) indicating that it was erected sometime between 1920 and 1931.

The British Postal Museum states that since 1879 this type of pillar box ‘continues to be one of Britain’s most recognisable symbols.’ Wicks notes that the cylindrical boxes came in two sizes, ‘A’ which was a large variety, and ‘B’ which was the smaller alternative. This box appears to be a B-type post box with the diameter of its shaft measuring 15 ½ inches (Wicks). The foundry plate located at the base of the pillar box records that it was constructed by ‘CARRON COMPANY STIRLINGSHIRE’, perhaps the most famous of the Scottish ironworking firms, founded in Falkirk in 1759.

References
Primary Sources
1 OS town plans of Belfast, 1920, 1931

Secondary Sources
1 Hyde, J. W., ‘The Royal Mail: Its curiosities and romance’ London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1889.
2 Wicks, P., ‘History of the British Post Box’ (Pamphlet replicated on author’s website - http://www.wicks.org/pulp/part1.html)

Online Resources
1 The British Postal Museum & Archive website - http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/page/letterboxes
2 The Letter Box Study Group website - http://www.lbsg.org/
3 Falkirk Local History Society website –
http://www.falkirklocalhistorysociety.co.uk/home/index.php?id=107
4 Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History - https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Carron_Co

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A free-standing early twentieth century King George V cast-iron post box, erected within the Malone Conservation Area in Balmoral Avenue near to the junction with Harberton Avenue, between 1920 – 1931 and carrying its maker’s name -‘CARRON COMPANY STIRLINGSHIRE’. This post box is in the distinctive style peculiar to the Post Office, painted in ‘pillar box red’ throughout except for the base which is black and with a fluted cap. It is of historical importance as it bears the Royal Cipher of King George V on the door.
Although the precise number of George V post boxes surviving in Belfast is unknown, these would seem to be more numerous than those erected during previous monarch’s reigns.
Post boxes of this era were of great social importance as the principle conduit by which people communicated with one another.