The following is the full unedited version of the article that I wrote for the forthcoming ELHS (Eastbourne Local History Society) booklet ‘Eastbourne’s Historic Street Furniture.’

Historical Background

The Post Office was established as a legal entity in 1660, although a public postal service had been in operation since 1635.  The Postal Museum website informs us, in part, that before 1840 the postal system was expensive and complex as there were a number of local systems with different charges.  Letters were also charged by distance and the number of sheets of paper they contained, and normally the charge was paid by the recipient rather than the sender.  Rowland Hill’s postal reforms led in 1840 to the Uniform Penny Post which opened up the postal system to almost every person in Britain.  Postage rates were now based on weight, not distance (for inland mail) and were paid for by the sender.  The sender could use the newly introduced stamped stationery or the adhesive postage labels.  The labels rapidly became the popular choice and soon became known as postage stamps, a name used to this day.  Prior to the introduction of the letter box, senders would have to take their letter in person to a Receiving House (effectively an early Post Office), or would have to await the Bellman.  The Bellman wore a uniform and walked the streets collecting letters from the public, while ringing a bell to attract attention.  

Locally, the 1972 publication ‘A Postal History of Eastbourne 1750 to 1972’ by Mrs. I.M. Sharpin and Mr Charles F. Williams informs us that the first record of a ‘Post Office’ was in Ocklynge Road in 1806.  In the section headed ‘Postmasters’ it tells us that according to G.P.O. Headquarters Records Office, a certain Mr Thomas How took office as Postmaster in 1806, but there was a Deputy carrying out the business of the Post Office 25 years before, i.e., c1780, and ‘Unfortunately, the lady’s name is not quoted and her identity cannot be traced…’ and ‘when Mr Cook became Postmaster in 1831 he eventually obtained premises in Terminus Road (sea end) and the office in Ocklynge became the Old Town Office, with Receiving Houses in Southbourne (South Street area) and Sea Houses (Marine Parade area).’ 

Information supplied by The Letter Box Study Group for the rest of this article includes manufacturing date ranges, designations, and letter box sizes: -
Pillar Box Type A – Large, Type B – Small, Type C – Double Aperture (post slot)
Wall Box Type A – Large, Type B – Medium, Type C – Small.
 
The Introduction of Letter Boxes
  The Postal Museum states that Anthony Trollope, now more famed as a novelist, was working as a Surveyor’s Clerk for the Post Office in the 1850’s.  Part of his duties involved him travelling to Europe where it is probable that he saw road-side letter boxes in use in France and Belgium.  He proposed the introduction of such boxes to Britain, and a trial on the Channel Islands was approved.  Four cast-iron pillar type letter boxes were installed on Jersey in 1852, and in 1853 the trial was extended to Guernsey.  The trials were considered a success and letter boxes appeared in the rest of the UK from 1853 onwards, the first being in Carlisle.  The early mainland boxes were usually hexagonal following the Channel Island design, but from 1855 square or round-fluted boxes started to appear.  The Postal Museum website also informs us that by 1859 the Post Office realised that having so many different designs of letter boxes across the country was proving expensive, therefore they issued instructions that a new ‘First National Standard’ box was to be introduced.
 

Picture 1 (cropped) by Mike Quinn is from the Geograph.org.uk website.  The author has allowed free usage under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.  It shows the only remaining example of a First National Standard (large type) pillar letter box still in use, which is in Montpelier Road at the junction with Western Road in Brighton.  Note the pattern on the cap and the position of the aperture (letter slot) directly under the cap.  This type is designated PB4/i, and they were manufactured by Cochrane & Co.   
The instruction to only produce the First National Standard design was not always adhered to, so in 1866 the Post Office introduced another standard box designed by John Wornham Penfold.  Note the early design of the VR cypher on the front of the box and compare it with the later design as seen on the VR boxes in Eastbourne.  In 1879 a further standard design was produced (the so called ‘Anonymous' boxes) that at last resembled the pillar type boxes that we are familiar with today. 
 
Picture 2 from the Wikiwand.com website shows a Penfold box in the early green livery on the High Street, Rochester, Kent in 2007.  It was moved from The Paddock, Military Road, Chatham in 1970.  The image is licenced for the Public Domain.

 
An interesting snippet from the Postal Museum article explains that the earliest boxes on Jersey were red, but the standard colour was changed to green in 1859.  However, the green painted boxes were difficult to spot, and following complaints, a return to red was specified in 1874, although it took 10 years to complete the programme of re-painting UK wide.  

Eastbourne’s Letter Boxes

The earliest mention of an Eastbourne letter box survey in the ELHS Newsletter was by Harold Spears in January 1973 where he stated ‘’A recent count showed that there are still 25 posting boxes in Eastbourne which bear the V.R. monogram of Queen Victoria.’’  It is assumed he got this figure from ‘A Postal History of Eastbourne 1750 to 1972,’ as on page 20 it states ‘There are over 320 Pillar and Wall collecting boxes in the Eastbourne Postal area, some 25 of which are the old Queen Victoria type, about 70 of George V and George VI types, and 27 of the present Queen, that is to say bearing the respective Royal Monograms.’  Strangely, there is no mention of the Edward VII boxes.

Michael Ockenden’s detailed March 1981 article (Journal No 39) ‘Victorian and Edwardian Pillar Boxes in Eastbourne’ includes the results of a survey carried out in 1979 on six Anonymous pillar boxes (these boxes do not have the words ‘Post Office’ or a VR Royal cypher) that were located in Wilmington Square, Grange Road (Jevington Gardens), The Avenue, Royal Parade, Stanley Road (not listed in Gowland's 1900 Directory), and Selwyn Road on the corner with Watts Lane, plus eighteen pillar boxes with the VR cypher, one wall box with the VR cypher, and five pillar boxes with the Edward VII cypher.  

 Another detailed article, this time by Peter Tyrrell in Journal No 162 (Winter 2011), titled ‘Anonymous Post Boxes’, mentions that one of these boxes in the Seaside Recreation Ground area, that used to stand at the junction of Stanley Road with Clarence Road, was replaced with a ‘pedestal type box’ when the Post Office at this location closed.  The replacement is a small ‘modern’ ERII (Elizabeth II) box on a post.  The article also mentions that an Anonymous box that stood in Royal Parade until at least 1993 had been removed.  Confirmation that this particular box was located near the junction with St. Aubyn’s Road comes from Ordnance Survey map ‘Sussex (East) Sheet LXXX.10.’ which was surveyed in 1875, revised in 1898, and the second edition published in 1899.  This shows that the box was positioned outside the current Majestic Hotel.  This box was removed when the VR pillar letter box at the Seaside/Langney Road junction was moved to the junction of Seaside/St. Aubyns Road, as there would be no need for two letter boxes so close together.  The article is also interesting for the fact that it goes into some detail about the manufacturer Andrew Handyside of Derby who produced all the remaining Victorian pillar boxes located in Eastbourne and several of the Edward VII era. 

The 2023 survey confirms there are now only four Anonymous pillar letter boxes, but still eighteen with the VR cypher, plus the VR wall box.  The conclusion is that the original number of Victorian boxes listed in 1972 must have included both Anonymous boxes and those with cyphers despite the mention of ‘…bearing the respective Royal Monograms’ (1972), or ‘…which bear the V.R. monogram of Queen Victoria’ (1973), otherwise it would mean that six pillar boxes with a VR cypher had disappeared between 1972 and 1979, and a study of the relevant maps (1876-1900) confirmed this not to be the case, as can be seen in the list at the end of this section on Victorian boxes.  Also, the reason that there are many more Victorian era letter boxes as opposed to Edwardian, is the length of Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), which encompassed nearly 50 years of letter box distribution compared to just over 9 years for King Edward VII (1901-1910).

The earliest letter boxes still in existence in Eastbourne are the two ‘Anonymous - high aperture’ pillar boxes that were manufactured from 1879 to 1883.  These boxes are situated in Jevington Gardens at junction with Grange Road (The OS maps from 1898 to at least 1938 show this box on the opposite side of Grange Road), and King Edward's Parade at Wilmington Square outside the Citrus Hotel (Picture 3).  They are the smaller capacity Type B (48” circumference) design, with a 6” wide aperture and are designated PB11/i by The Letter Box Study Group.  There are also two slightly later (1883-1887) ‘Anonymous - low aperture’ boxes located in Selwyn Road at junction with Watts Lane, and The Avenue at junction with St. Anne's Road.  These are also Type B, but have a 7” wide aperture, and are designated PB13.  Michael Ockenden’s 1981 article states that the Stanley Road (not recorded on Gowland's Directories Victorian letter boxes lists), and Royal Parade boxes were also of this design, and explains that the high aperture design had a problem whereby letters could get lodged at the top of the box.  This was rectified by moving the aperture lower down, hence they become known as the ‘low aperture’ design.

There has always been an assumption that the missing words and cypher of the Anonymous boxes was a mistake by the manufacturer Andrew Handyside, but in another article by Peter Tyrrell in Journal No 165 (Autumn 2012) he informs us that after a friends visit to the Post Office storage facility in Debden, Essex, his friend told him that “…apparently, the anonymous boxes were a mistake by Royal Mail and not the manufacturer, Andrew Handyside Ltd.  It took Royal Mail eight years to admit the mistake.”

Following on date-wise from the Anonymous boxes is the VR wall box (Picture 4) located in Old Town where the High Street meets The Goffs, opposite the junction with Moatcroft Road.  This Type C design was produced by W. T. Allen & Co London and is designated WB87/i.  The building is currently a Pizza Stop outlet, but the 1899 Kelly’s Sussex Directory shows it was an off-licence at that time.  Under ‘Ale & Porter Merchants & Agents’ it states ‘Hurst A. & Co.  1 High Street, Old Town, Eastbourne.’  Today, above the main entrance in ghost writing, can still be seen the original signage ‘Hurst & Co.’ 

Some previous articles state that this is, or probably is, the oldest surviving letter box in Eastbourne.  After measuring the box (28” high x 10.5” wide, with a 6” x 1” aperture) and referring to The Letter Box Study Group information sheet, its time span of manufacture can be accurately dated to 1882-1885, which is slightly later than the Anonymous high aperture pillar boxes, but it may have been installed before them as the dates overlap slightly and the locations of the Anonymous boxes in Jevington Gardens and King Edward's Parade were undeveloped according to the Ordnance Survey map published in 1879 (surveyed 1875-1876).  The map can be found on the National Library of Scotland website as ‘Sussex Sheet LXXX.’

 

Following date-wise again is the VR pillar box located at the junction of Grand Parade and Trinity Place (Picture 5).  This box is a Type A large capacity 62” circumference design, manufactured from 1887 to 1892 by Handyside.  It does not have a weather strip on the door (to keep the rain out), and the aperture measures 7” x 1.5”.  It is designated PB14/i.  This is the only box of this particular design in Eastbourne, although other pillar boxes from the same date range are its smaller Type B (48” circumference) companions, which are designated PB15/i.  There are four of these in the following locations: Carlisle Road at junction with Gaudick Road, Granville Road at the junction with Silverdale Road, Seaside at the junction with St. Aubyn’s Road, and South Street at the junction with Cornfield Lane near the War Memorial.  Again, manufactured by Handyside without weather strips, and with a 7” x 1.5” aperture.  

From 1892-1900 a weather strip was added to the door.  There are two Type A’s of this design (still with the 7” x 1.5” aperture), in Carlisle Road opposite the Heritage Centre, and South Cliff at the junction with South Cliff Avenue.  This type is designated PB14/ii. 
 

From the same date range, there are nine of the smaller capacity Type B’s with this new addition.  These are designated PB15/ii and are located at: Upper Carlisle Road junction with Carlisle Road, King Edward's Parade at the exit from Chatsworth Gardens near the junction with Bolsover Road, 9-11 Compton Street near the junction with Devonshire Place, Summerdown Road near the junction with Church Street, Chesterfield Road at the junction with Darley Road (Picture 6), Lewes Road near the junction with Enys Road, Mill Gap Road at the junction with St. Anne’s Road, De Roos Road at junction with Ratton and Mill Roads, and Redoubt Road at the junction with Rylstone Road.  Note the change of design of the VR cypher compared to the Penfold boxes.
 
In 1900 a larger aperture was introduced measuring 8” wide x 2” deep.  There are two Type B’s with this feature, one is located in Firle Road at the junction with Cavendish Avenue (outside the Mace store), and the other is in Green Street at the junction with Salehurst Road.  This Type B design is designated PB15/iii. 
The Green Street box appears to be heavily corroded under the paintwork at the base, and the underside of the cap is rusted through in places.

Apart from the two Anonymous boxes already mentioned that were removed from Stanley Road and Royal Parade, there were many more Victorian letter boxes in existence up to the mid to late 1930’s that were either replaced with later types, or were permanently removed.  It was possible to plot the majority of these by studying Ordnance Survey maps published from 1876 through to 1947, including maps ‘Sussex Sheet LXXX.10.’ which was surveyed in 1874 and published in 1876, Ordnance Survey map ‘Sussex (East) Sheet LXXX.10.’ which was surveyed in 1875, revised in 1898, and the second edition published in 1899, and ‘Sussex (East) Sheet LXXX. S.W.’ which was surveyed from 1873 to 1875, revised in 1898, and published in 1900.  Other later maps in the series were used to determine roughly when boxes were removed.  (see ‘Map Images – National Library of Scotland’ online).  The 1876 map shows pillar boxes as ‘P.L.B.’ or ‘P.L.Box’, and wall boxes as ‘L.Box’, but the later maps only list the Victorian boxes as ‘L.B.’ (Letter Box) and do not distinguish between the different types, although the 1899 map shows pillar boxes as clearly positioned on the pavement. 

Generally, it is not possible to put an exact date on when the Victorian boxes were replaced or removed, or a reason why, but the Postal Museum states ‘Problems were encountered with some of the early designs however and modifications were made, such as the inclusion of downward-pointing shoots to help prevent letters being caught up in the cap of the box.  The Penfold letter box while not particularly a success operationally was very popular with many people.  As a standard box however, it was not to survive.  In 1879 a further standard box was produced. This time more of the earlier lessons were taken on board.’  The 1879 box was the first of the Anonymous types.

Picture 7 shows a Smith & Hawkes pillar box that was manufactured from 1856 to 1857 (see Cornfield Road for the first reference to its possible use in Eastbourne).  The author, Elliott Brown, has allowed free usage of the image under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.  The box (designated PB1/viii) was photographed in Westgate, Warwick, in 2015.  

The following is a list of locations of Victorian letter boxes that appeared on either the 1876, 1899, or 1900 maps where the boxes were removed and not replaced: -

Cavendish Place at the junction with Tideswell Road. The 1899 map shows a pillar box in this location.  Also shown on maps up to 1938.  Possibly lost to heavy WW2 bomb damage in this area.

Cornfield Road at the junction with South Street (today’s Memorial Roundabout/Trinity Trees).  The 1876 map shows a ‘P.L.Box’ (Pillar Letter Box) in this location which would have been either a First National Standard (1859-1866) or a Penfold (1866-1879), or possibly the earlier 1856-1857 fluted designs by Smith & Hawkes.  Does not appear on maps from 1899 onwards.

King Edward’s Parade at the junction with Silverdale Road.  Although this pillar box does not appear on any of the OS maps that were studied, it does appear in a photograph of the area dated 1880-1890, but had disappeared from photographs from 1936 onwards.

Langney Farm. Current address approx 41 Langney Rise.  This is likely to have been a Lamp Box mounted on a lamppost, telegraph pole, or a purpose made pedestal.

Meads Road near the junction with St. John’s Road.  Appears on a map dated 1899, and a photograph shows the pillar box in-situ c1900.

Railway Station on the side facing the Beacon Centre.  The 1899 map shows a ‘L.B’ (Letter Box) in this location.  Does not appear on the 1910 map.  Probably a wall box.  

Royal Parade – as previously discussed.

Seaside outside St. Andrew’s Church.  A 1900 map shows a Victorian 'L.B' (Letter Box) in this location, which disappeared from later maps.  A 1927 map then shows a replacement pillar box on the nearby corner with Winchelsea Road, but this disappeared sometime after 1952.

Seaside outside Christ Church.  Shown on the 1876 map as a wall box, and on the 1899 map, but does not appear on the 1900 map.  Current box is a GR pillar box approx 12 metres from the original wall box location.

Seaside at the junction with Marine Drove (now Langney Road).  As previously stated, the VR pillar box was moved to Seaside/St. Aubyn’s Road, but the 1876 map shows an older pillar box in this location which would have been either a First National Standard, a Penfold, or the fluted Smith & Hawkes type.

Seaside at the junction with Marine Parade Road.  Now Bourneside Court flats.  The 1876 map shows a wall box in this location.  Does not appear on the 1899 map.

Seaside at the junction with Colonnade Road.  This pillar box appears on the maps of 1899, 1910, 1925, and 1933 as a ‘L.B’ (Letter Box). Does not appear on the 1947 map.  There is a now a modern 1980’s pillar box on the opposite corner.

Seaside Road at the junction with Terminus Road and Victoria Place. This pillar box appears on the maps of 1899, 1910, 1925, and 1933 as a ‘L.B’ (Letter Box). Does not appear on the 1947 map.

South Street near the Town Hall.  The 1876 map shows a pillar box in this location on the pavement at the rear of today’s Bibendum Public House.  It can be precisely dated, as on page 8 of ‘A Postal History of Eastbourne 1750 to 1972’ it states ‘Southbourne Receiving House was closed in October 1864 and a pillar-box substituted.’  (Southbourne was situated around the present-day South Street area). The new box would have been a First National Standard type, which would have been painted the official colour of green specified at that time.  Does not appear on the 1899 map.

Sutton Road (now under the Beacon Centre). The 1899 and 1910 maps show a ‘L.B’ (Letter Box) in this location. Does not appear on the 1925 map.  Unclear whether this was a pillar or wall box.                                             

Terminus Road at the junction with Mark Lane and Cornfield Road.  This pillar box appears on the maps of 1899, 1910, 1925, and 1933 as a ‘L.B’ (Letter Box). Does not appear on the 1947 map.

Upperton Road at the junction with Ocklynge Road.  The 1900 map shows a 'L.B' (Letter Box) in this location.  It is presumed the VR pillar or wall box (unclear which) was removed when the corner was widened and the current ERVII PB was then installed on the opposite corner at end of Ocklynge Avenue.  An excellent photograph on the Heritage Eastbourne website page ‘Motoring Around Town’ shows the ERVII PB in its original position on the edge of the pavement with the front of the box facing down the road towards the town centre.  It was later moved to its present location just a few feet away.

Upperton Road near the junction with The Goffs.  The 1900 map shows a 'L.B' (Letter Box) in this location.  Does not appear on the 1938 map.  It is unclear whether this was a pillar or wall box.

The following is a list of locations of Victorian letter boxes that appeared on either the 1876, 1899, or 1900 maps that were replaced with later types, including in brackets what period and type of box is currently in place.

Abbreviations: GR: George V, ERII: Elizabeth II, PB: Pillar Box, WB: Wall Box.

Beamsley Road at the junction with Seaside (ERII PB).

Blackwater Road at the junction with Meads Road (ERII PB).

Borough Lane at the junction with Love Lane (Vicarage Road), now Borough Lane at the junction with Park Close (ERII WB).

Cavendish Place at the junction with Grand Parade (GR PB). 

Carew Road at the junction with Hartfield Road (ERII PB).

Carew Road at the junction with Arundel Road (ERII PB).

Carlisle Road at the junction with Grassington Road (The VR PB was replaced by the current GR WB on the opposite corner between 1925-1932).

Compton Street at the rear of the Grand Hotel.  The 1900 map shows a Victorian 'L.B' (Letter Box) in this location.  The current pillar box is ERII, which itself replaced an earlier GR Type D pillar box with attached stamp vending machine (designated PB29) – see Michael Ockenden’s 1981 article.

Cornfield Terrace at the junction with Blackwater Road (ERII PB).

Enys Road at the junction with St. Anne’s Road.  This pillar box appears on the maps of 1899, 1900, and 1910. Between 1910 & 1925 it is removed and replaced by a GR wall box on the other side of the road adjacent to No 6 on the boundary pillar of the former vicarage of St. Anne's Church (the church in Upperton Gardens was bombed and set on fire in August 1942 and replaced with housing in the 1950’s).  The GR box was replaced at some point by the current ERII wall box.

Furness Road at the junction with College Road (GR PB).

Grange Road at the junction with Blackwater Road (ERII PB).

Stanley Road (ERII Lamp Box as previously discussed).

St. John’s Road outside St. John’s Church (ERII PB).

Upperton Road opposite Michel Grove (GR WB).

Overall, this means Eastbourne has lost a total of 34 Victorian letter boxes; 18 that were permanently removed, and a further 16 replaced with later types.  This leaves us with just 24 original Victorian boxes.  The full list will also appear on an interactive ‘Google My Maps’ by Spring/Summer 2024 on one or all of the following websites:  ELHS, Eastbourne Society, Heritage Eastbourne.  A similar map for the GR(V) and GRVI letter boxes will appear at a later date. 

After the death of Queen Victoria, her eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Edward VII.  There is a total of five ERVII pillar boxes in Eastbourne, all of which are Type B (48” circumference) with 8” x 2” apertures.  The three oldest date from 1901-1904 and were manufactured by Handyside.  The first is located in Holywell Road at junction with Duke's Drive.  Picture 8 shows a close-up of the ornate Royal cypher.  This box has a sub-Type b Handyside signature which is 8” wide, and the box is designated PB18/ii.  The other two boxes have sub-Type c Handyside signatures which are 11” wide and these boxes are designated PB18/iii.  One is located mid-way along Arlington Road, and the other in Royal Parade (Carlton Road/Royal Parade corner that joins Royal Parade proper).  The remaining two ERVII pillar boxes, that date from 1904-1910, are in Susans Road near the junction with Ashford Road, and Ocklynge Avenue at the junction of Willingdon Road and Selwyn Road.  These two were manufactured by McDowall Steven & Co Ltd of London & Glasgow, and are designated PB20.  

There are also two known ERVII wall boxes in Eastbourne, one of which (Picture 9) is in Saffrons Road.  This Type B box (33” high x 14” wide) dates from 1901-1904 and was manufactured by W. T. Allen & Co London.  It has an 8” x 2” aperture and a plain ERVII cypher (no serifs on VII) and is designated WB89/iii.

The second box is at the junction of Meads Road and Grassington Road.  It is a Type C box (28" high x 10.75" wide, with a 6” x 1.25” aperture) manufactured by W. T. Allen, with a new Crown design, serifs on VII (difficult to see under the multiple paint layers), and the collection plate slightly to left of centre. It is designated WB94 and was manufactured from 1904 to 1910.

After the death of Edward VII in 1910, the next in line to the throne was George Frederick Ernest Albert.  Born 1865, he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra).  Their first-born son in 1864 was Prince Albert Victor, who would have succeeded the throne, but died in 1892 aged 28 during a recurrence of the 1889-1890 viral pandemic.  Therefore, George became King George V and reigned from 1910 to 1936.  His letter boxes have a simple GR Royal cypher.  There are many GR boxes in Eastbourne (pillar and wall types), but two worth noting are located at Eastbourne Station and Willingdon Road.  

The wall box at the station (Picture 10) is the only Type A in Eastbourne.  This is the largest size at 3’ 11” high x 1’ 8” wide.  Manufactured from somewhere in the early 1930’s up to 1936 by McDowall Steven & Co Ltd Falkirk, it is designated WB102/iii due to the 4” high crown, as opposed to WB102/ii which has a 5” high crown.

The second GR box of note is located the near the Hurst Arms on the raised section of pavement opposite the entrance to Ocklynge Cemetery.  This pillar box still has its enamel sign (Picture 11) indicating that it used to have a stamp vending machine attached.  This is a Type B by McDowall Steven London & Glasgow.  Dating from 1911-1922 it is designated PB26/i as it has a high cypher (the gap between the Crown and GR).  There are at least another two with the enamel stamp sign, these are in Cavendish Place at the junction with Grand Parade, and Furness Road at the junction with College Road.

Michael Ockenden’s 1981 article mentions the fact that there was a rare Type D pillar box in Compton Street behind the Grand Hotel ‘…until a few years ago.’  The Postal Museum states: ‘During the reign of George V a number of experimental boxes combining different functions were produced.  Combination pillar boxes type D and E incorporated a stamp vending machine on one side.  The vending machines were set to dispense two halfpenny stamps in exchange for one old penny.  The stamps were supplied in a long, continuously wound roll.  Expensive to produce, seventy-five type D and fifty smaller type E combination pillar boxes were made.  Due to constant jamming the stamp vending machines were soon taken out of use.’  The Letter Box Study Group dates the Type D (large) from 1931-1933, and designates it PB29.

After the death of King George V in 1936, he was succeeded by King Edward VIII whose short reign lasted from 20th January 1936 to 11th December 1936 before he abdicated.  Consequently, according to The Letter Box Study Group, there are only 171 surviving letter boxes with his ERVIII cypher in the UK, none of which were installed in Eastbourne.  Michael Ockenden’s 1981 article states the nearest is in Warmdene Road, Patcham, in the northern suburbs of Brighton.  Edward was succeeded by his younger brother (by a year), Albert Frederick Arthur George, who became King George VI and reigned from 1936 to 1952.  An example of a pillar box from this period can be found in Trinity Trees, next to the bus stop outside the British Heart Foundation shop (Picture 12).  This has an 8” x 2” aperture, and is 62” in circumference (Type A), and was manufactured from 1937 to 1952 by McDowall Steven.  It is designated PB34.  There is also a nice example of a GRVI wall box at 51 Meads Road.  This is a Type B (33” high x 14” wide, 8” x 2” aperture) manufactured by W. T. Allen & Co London from 1937 to 1952, and is designated WB110.   

King George VI passed away on February 6th 1952 to be succeeded by his eldest daughter Elizabeth.  Queen Elizabeth II reigned from 1952 to until her death on September 8th 2022.  An early ERII wall box can be found in Enys Road adjacent to No 6 (Picture 13).  Its measurements show it is a Type B (medium), manufactured by W. T. Allen & Co Ltd London c1955.  It is designated WB115/ii by The Letter Box Study Group. 

It will be interesting to see when the first King Charles III letter box is installed in Eastbourne.  According to The Letter box Study Group: ‘Royal Mail will use up their existing stock of Elizabeth II boxes before starting on Charles III’s.  The newest post-boxes are made of stainless steel and only need a small part to be redesigned before being bolted on to the box, so it should not take long to start production.’  

Update: The first UK mainland pillar letter box bearing the new Charles III cypher was installed in the High Street in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire on July 12th 2024.  

As to the future of existing letter boxes; the Joint Policy Statement by Royal Mail and Historic England, in consultation with The Letter box Study Group and The Postal Museum, states in part: ‘Royal Mail has renewed its policy, which Historic England supports, for the retention of all letter boxes in operational service at their existing locations, unless certain exceptional circumstances or operational need necessitates their relocation or removal.’  

Some facts and figures from ‘A Postal History of Eastbourne 1750 to 1972’, page 11: ‘…in 1953, a weekly average of 405,000 letters, printed papers and newspapers were delivered in the Eastbourne Postal District…now, in 1971/72, the figures are 343,384 letters, 35,280 parcels weekly in the Town area alone…the number of letters going from Eastbourne is 352,635 per week.’  It would be interesting to know what the figures are today 50 years on?

If anyone wonders how it was possible for Royal Mail to deliver letters or postcards by the next day in the late Victorian and early Edwardian era (information dated 1900 to 1903), it is worth noting that in Eastbourne at least, each pillar or wall letter box was emptied seven times a day Monday to Saturday from approximately 9am in the morning to 11pm at night!  Even on Sunday's they were emptied twice in the evening at approximately 6pm and 11pm (increased from once in 1898).  As for deliveries; in 1898 there were five a day for letters and parcels at 7am, 10am, 1.30pm, 4.45pm, and 7pm.

Manufacturers mentioned in this article: -

Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd Derby (also Derby & London).

Carron Co Falkirk.

Cochrane Grove & Co, Dudley (Penfold 1st and 2nd type boxes 1866-1879).

Cochrane & Co, Woodside Works, Dudley (First National Standard boxes 1859-1866, and Penfold 3rd and 4th type boxes 1872-1879).

McDowall Steven & Co Ltd Glasgow (also London & Glasgow, or Falkirk).

Smith & Hawkes, Eagle Foundry, Broad Street, Birmingham.

W.T. Allen & Co London.

All photographs in this article were taken by the author unless attributed otherwise.

Sources: -

The Postal Museum website.

The Letter Box Study Group website and Facebook page.

Eastbourne Heritage Centre website.

A Postal History of Eastbourne 1750 to 1972 by Mrs. I.M. Sharpin and Mr Charles F. Williams.

The National Library of Scotland (maps).

Geograph.org.uk website.

A special mention to Nick Miles for informing me about the Hurst & Co ghost writing above the current Pizza Stop in OId Town.

Previous ELHS articles on letter boxes referenced in this article can be found by purchasing the USB Data Stick ‘The Eastbourne Local History Society: The First 50 Years’ from the society.  Other recommended reading available on the USB Data Stick is an article by Lionel D. Jones in Journal No 116, Summer 2000, titled ‘The General Post Office Removes to the New Town’.