EHL211. ERII Wall Letter Box c1955. Adjacent to No 6 Enys Road, (close to the corner with Upperton Gardens) Eastbourne. what3words location: tanks.copies.artist

An early Queen Elizabeth II wall letter box.

Manufactured by W.T. Allen & Co Ltd London. 

The Letter Box Study Group: Type B (medium), manufactured c1955.  Designated WB115/ii.  

Historic Context: Originally a Victorian pillar letter box stood at the junction of Enys and St. Anne’s Roads.  The pillar box appeared on the maps of 1899, 1900, and 1910. Between 1910 & 1925 it was removed and replaced by a GR (George V) 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 wall box was replaced c1955 by the current ERII wall box.

References: Map details from the National Library of Scotland online.

EHL311. ERII Type 'K' c1980. 133-135 Seaside Road at junction with Colonnade Road, Eastbourne. what3words location: shrugging.racked.vessel

Not really 'bygone' in age terms, but a special letter pillar box nonetheless.

Letter Box Study Group: Type K with commemorative plaque designated PB48/i.

Manufactured 1980 by the Lion Foundry.

Historic Context: In 1980, the Post Office unveiled a new ‘cigar-shaped’ pillar letter box chosen from a panel of three competing designers.  The winning design was created by Tony Gibbs, a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers.  His winning entry had a much smoother look and a slightly recessed aperture within its door, and did not have a separate domed top.  Made in traditional cast iron by the Lion Foundry of Kirkintilloch, Glasgow, it had a substantial capacity but a relatively small footprint.  It was designated Type K by the Post Office.  At its launch the Post Office stated ‘In redesigning the pillar box, the opportunity has been taken to create a product more in keeping with the times in which we live, and takes advantage of modern (manufacturing) techniques.’  Unfortunately, the new design was not universally popular or thought to be acceptable in conservation areas, and in 1990 the traditional style was re-introduced as an alternative.  The Type K ceased production in 2000.

This particular box was one of the first eleven erected in the UK on July 31^st 1980 and has a commemorative plaque cast on the back which reads ‘One of the first castings of the 1980 ‘K’ pillar box.’  Only 15 of these special commemorative boxes were ever made, and all subsequent boxes of this type had a plain cast back.  To mark the launch day of the new design the Post Office issued a commemorative cover and a special hand stamp of the towns in which the boxes were erected.  Unfortunately, the only image I can find of the commemorative cover has the hand stamp of Shrewsbury rather than Eastbourne.

It is also worth noting that there has been a pillar letter box in this location since before 1899, albeit on the opposite corner of Colonnade Road.

For added historical significance this box still has the Covid era ‘ROYAL MAIL, PRIORITY POSTBOX, SUPPORTING THE NHS’ sticker!

References: -

The Letter Box Study Group and The Postal Museum.