The Cake - Winter 2021

LOCAL HISTORY
MUSEUM
MATTERS
n this eition eo Pier rites on the suect
of Victorian letter boxes, of which we have
seeral still in use in the ton an one on isla
in the museum
Iam not an historian and
neither am I a ictorian
postman, but I am getting
to know a bit about
ictorian post boxes. irst
you must guess when the ost
ffice was founded o ou
are wrong unless you cheated
it was in under Charles
II. niformed postmen first
appeared on the streets in
and the system, as we now know
it, was developed after Rowland
ill invented the adhesive stamp
in .
The first post boxes painted
red were established in ersey in
and mainland in .
After many complaints about
the colour the post boxes were
all painted green but they were
returned to red in so that
people could find them more
easily. The original ones were
all pillar boxes and the first wall
boxes were installed in .
They were developed because
they were only a quarter of the
price.
They were made of cast
iron with a locked, hinged
opening and over the years of
development several different
designs were made. or example,
the first ones W leaked,
so W and W were made
with hoods over the postage
slot and drainage holes at the
bottom. ther modifications were
later made to ease the opening
and removal of letters. The
modifications continued right up
to W in ictorian times.
In Cranbrook and surrounding
area, we have several ictorian
boxes still in use. The one
which most of you will have
noticed stands proudly at the
top of the igh Street where the
road narrows another outside
Goddards Green arm opposite
the War emorial and one
opposite Rammell ield close to
Sams Seat. A little out of town,
one can be found on the right of
the state odge, in front of the
former old blacksmiths forge at
Glassenbury.
ooking at them initially, the
LEFT: This Victorian post box came from Sissinghurst
and is on display at the Cranbrook Museum
ABOVE: The Victorian post box opposite Rammel
Field, Cranbrook
“These boxes have seen
nearly 200 years’ service.
Just think of the stories they
could tell!”
boxes all seem the same, but on
inspection you can see different
designs. The one in Cranbrook
igh Street is labelled .R.Walker
agle oundry, irm. ingham.
thers were made in ondon.
These boxes have seen nearly
years service. ust think of the
stories they could tell
34 The Cake Winter