EHL77. VR (Queen Victoria) Type 'B' c1887-1892. Corner of Seaside and St. Aubyns Road near Marine Hall, Eastbourne. what3words location: flicked.dices.cries

Cast iron letter box with VR cypher. 

The Letter Box Study Group: Type B without weather strip & with 7” aperture manufactured by Handyside is designated PB15/i. 

The photograph on the right (courtesy of Kevin Gordon) shows the same box on the corner of Seaside and Langney Road before it was moved to the current Seaside/St. Aubyn's Road location sometime in the 1990’s (or possibly late 80’s).  I believe a major redevelopment of the Seaside/Langney Road junction was planned with the possible introduction of a roundabout which would have meant widening Langney Road by removing the gardens, which itself would have necessitated the removal of the letter box (and old drinking fountain), but in the end the roundabout failed to materialise, possibly due to cost, and the only change was to introduce a pedestrian island to the existing zebra crossing, but by this time the letter box and fountain had already been moved to their new locations. 

Interestingly, a map of 1876 shows there was a pillar box in this location which would have been either a First National Standard, or a Penfold.  At that time Langney Road was called Marine Drove.

A point to note about the relocated box is the fact that the base cutouts, which are usually buried under the ground, can actually be seen; so for some reason it was not buried as deep as it should have been.

In 1979, Richard and Alexandra (Za) Crook (nee Marshall), and Michael Ockenden painted the cyphers on the letter boxes as can be seen in the right-hand photograph.  Richard informed me that they painted all the cyphers black, and the crown on the Victorian wall box in the Goffs was highlighted in gold.  Obviously, the boxes have been repainted many times since, and when I recently contacted the Post Office to ask if the cyphers could be highlighted as they were in 1979, they informed me it was against their policy.