Published in Windlesora 04 (1985)
© WLHG
Have you just posted a letter? No doubt you noticed that the letter box was painted in the traditional red, but did you remember the cipher or the manufacturer of the box? There are those who would have recorded such details; they are members of the Letter Box Study Group who are dedicated to maintaining records and the preservation of a part of the ‘furniture’ on our streets.
The Slough Postal Area also embraces Ascot, Dorney, Eton Wick, Maidenhead, Winkfield, Old Windsor and New Windsor. We are fortunate to have letter boxes with ciphers covering every reign since the first box was installed in 1852. It has been thought that the first pillar box to be erected in the Windsor Postal Area was at Winkfield Plain, but a photograph shows that this distinction belongs to the Clewer New Town Post Office which was at No. 10 Dedworth Road. The pillar box is similar to the first design of 1852; the photograph also shows a postman in the first uniform to be issued in Windsor, a top hat and red coat. Postmen had to supply their own trousers and footwear.
A rare cipher is on a pillar box at Priory Road, Sunningdale; it is that of Edward VIII. The King reigned for just eleven months, and there are only 133 such boxes in operation.
Listed as a rare box and with a preservation order upon it is the fluted pillar box with vertical posting aperture, adjacent to the Cockpit in Eton High Street. It is the 1856 model, and has had two narrow escapes. In 1955 there was an official proposal to remove the box and replace it with a modern one, as complaints had been received that it was not big enough. This proposal caused a local rumpus, and upon investigation it was found that large envelopes were blocking the postal aperture, the chief culprits being the Urban District Council. A request was made that those posting large envelopes should take them to Eton Post Office.
In 1960, another calamity occurred; on Sunday February 7th, the postman clearing the box found that he could not relock it. As the lock was of ancient design, no replacement could be found, so the box was put ‘out of order’ by having the posting aperture closed. The lock was sent to Messrs. Chubb for repair. The closing of the box brought a request from the Clerk to the U.D.C. for the box to be replaced. As this was not the same gentleman who held the office in 1955, he was reminded of the former incident. At the next meeting of the U.D.C. the request for the removal of the box was withdrawn, but not before there had been a number of local protests at the suggestion, including a letter from the Headmaster of Eton College. On February 25th, the box was back in operation, one of only eight of this model in the United Kingdom. By permission of the Post Office, the box is maintained by a member of the Letter Box Study Group. In addition to the traditional red, the crowns are painted in gold, the lettering in black.
Also maintained by the L.B.S.G. is the Edward VII wall box at Norman Gate, Windsor Castle. The unusual feature of this box is that it used to be painted by the Ministry of Works in a ‘gun-metal’ finish in order that it should blend with the surrounding stonework. When the M.O.W. relinquished its responsibility, the Post Office reverted to painting the box red.
The unusual feature of the George V box in Victoria Street, inserted into the wall of Victoria Barracks, is that it has two posting apertures. This enables residents in the barracks to post their letters without entering the street.
Thought by some to be the most elegant box to be manufactured, is the hexagonal ‘Penfold’ one of which was once in use in Clarence Road, oppposite the Princess Christian Nursing Home. Formerly on view in the now lamentably closed Guildhall Exhibition, it is now to be seen in the Royalty and Empire Exhibition at the Central Station. As the nearest ‘Penfold’ is situated in London, efforts were made to have the Windsor one re-erected but the proposal was turned down.
Believed to be the only one in existence is the wooden non-standard posting box, now languishing in a Borough Depot storeroom at Tinkers Lane. This box was used for the posting of special items for the first United Kingdom Aerial Post, from Hendon to Windsor on September 9th, 1911.
Information regarding the Letter Box Study Group can be obtained by sending a S.A.E. to Mr. I. G. Wilkinson, Publications Officer, L.B.S.G., 17 Germains Close, CHESHAM, Bucks. HP5 133.
Fred Fuzzens
(Web Editor’s note June 2023: The story of the first UK Aerial Post can be seen on display with the box at the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum in the Guildhall, Windsor.)
Windsor Local History Group 