EHL171. VR (Queen Victoria) Type 'C' Wall Box c1882-1885. Old Town High Street where it meets The Goffs, opposite Moatcroft Road, Eastbourne. what3words location: firmly.join.wider

Cast iron letter box with VR cypher manufactured by W. T. Allen & Co London (the makers name is covered in multiple layers of paint, but is just discernible).

Letter Box Study Group: Type C with a high cypher 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.’