I have always had a fondness for the Victorian hexagonal pillar box ever since I saw my first one in Wimbledon Common outside King’s College School back around 1980.
Woodhayes Road, Wimbledon, London. circa 1980.
Google tells me “The hexagonal pillar box, commonly known as the Penfold postbox, is an iconic Victorian-era mailbox designed by architect John Wornham Penfold in 1866. Produced between 1866 and 1879, these cast-iron, hexagonal, red boxes feature decorative acanthus leaves, a ball-topped dome, and a VR royal cipher, often appearing in historic locations across Britain.”
The following half dozen photos are mine from our travels. I am always excited to come across another example. The rest I snagged from elsewhere.
Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh. 24-April 2022. We were in Scotland for an Elles Bailey concert and went for a walk up to Arthur’s seat passing this specimen.
Mill Lane, Hartington 23-April-2023. Encountered on a walking holiday in Bakewell.
Emerson Street, Napier, New Zealand. 25-February-2025. We were amazed to discover this design had made it down under as part of our grand tour down under in the fascinating Art Deco city of Napier.
Fisher Street, Carlisle. 06-December-2025. We were manning a charity stall at Carlisle Farmers market a stumbled across this example during a break for lunch.
New Halls Road, South Queensferry. 20-December-2025. Collecting a friend from Edinburgh airport we decided to go up the night before and stay in South Queensferry where this model was sited on the banks of the River Forth.
Following are not my photos but snagged from a FaceBook post. Credit / apologies to the original posters.
King’s Parade, Cambridge.
North Oxford.
Rochester, Kent.
Bath.
Palace Green, Durham Cathedral.
Fort Kochi, Kerela, India.
This is said to be one of the oldest post boxes still in everyday use; it dates from 1873.
There are reports of others in:
- Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells
- A second one in Oxford
- Folkestone
- A cluster of them in Cheltenham
Unsurprisingly, there is an FaceBook group dedicated to Old Post boxes uk.
And of course Wikipedia has a full list of photos at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Penfold_pillar_boxes_in_England so I think I’ll stop there.
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