Ludlow style wall box

Last updated
A page from a 1910 Ludlow advertising brochure Birmingham UK Postbox poster.jpg
A page from a 1910 Ludlow advertising brochure

In the UK, a Ludlow wall box is a post box where mail is deposited to be collected by the Royal Mail. They are built into stone pillars or the walls of buildings and are never found free-standing. This is because they are made largely from wood. They were nearly all made by the now-defunct company of James Ludlow & Son of Birmingham, whose name they take. Similar designs exist as historical artefacts in certain Commonwealth countries. Ludlow style boxes have been in use since 1885 and were in continuous manufacture until 1965.

Contents

According to the Letter Box Study Group (LBSG), there are more than 450 locations in the UK and Republic of Ireland where Ludlow post boxes are in use, stored or preserved. As Royal Mail estimates that there are over 100,000 post boxes in the UK, the Ludlow style boxes represent a very small group of nonetheless important designs. [1]

Early history

The earliest use of a Ludlow style box came in 1885, but the very first boxes in the style were made by the Eagle Range and Foundry Company or E.R. Cole & Co and not by James Ludlow & Son. They are grouped together under the generic term "Ludlow boxes" as those made by James Ludlow & Son are by far the most prevalent. According to LBSG records only two E.R. Cole boxes survive in service in the UK and only a handful of Eagle Range and Foundry boxes.

Construction

Ludlow boxes are special because unlike traditional cast iron post boxes, they are made largely of wood. There are two standard sizes, small and large. The construction of both is a simple rustic pine box which may have doors at the front only or at front and back. In the smaller style the front door is surrounded by a cast iron decorative beading and surmounted by a cast aperture or mouth-piece which bears the cypher of the reigning British monarch at the time of supply. Ludlow boxes can hence be found bearing the cyphers of Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. Below the aperture casting is a wooden door which is faced with thin sheet steel at the top and a decorative enamel plate at the bottom. The plate normally bears the Royal Cypher and the wording "POST OFFICE LETTER BOX". It may also contain a recessed collection time plate and a "Next collection" tablet. It will normally be fitted with a brass five-lever Chubb lock on the inside and may have a lock escutcheon on the outside.

Until 1952 the larger style had no top casting, the area being covered by an enamel decorative plate which itself has an aperture through the middle. In this case the longer door may have a collection plate and tablet holder and again will carry a Chubb lock and may be fitted with an escutcheon. From 1952 however, the design was modified so that the casting from the smaller style box could be used instead of the enamel plate. It was uniform with the smaller style and both of these later EIIR boxes carry a cast plaque on the lower door reading "Post Office". In Scotland, this style of box featured apertures showing the Crown of Scotland.

General use

Ludlow boxes were introduced because, until 1910, sub-postmasters were responsible for the provision of secure posting facilities in their post offices. As the traditional cast iron boxes were heavy and expensive, James Ludlow & Son introduced a range of much cheaper boxes which they could supply at a competitive price to sub-postmasters. They were also to be seen in large country houses, public buildings and hotels.

James Ludlow manufactured the boxes in various styles and produced colour leaflets describing the boxes.

At their height, it is estimated that there were some 5,000–7,000 Ludlow boxes in use in the UK. As the network of post offices has contracted, many of these have been withdrawn from service and removed until today there are around 450 left.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letter box</span> Receptacle for receiving incoming mail

A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, mail slot or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For outgoing mail, Post boxes are often used for depositing the mail for collection, although some letter boxes are also capable of holding outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Letterboxes or mailboxes use the following primary designs:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortise lock</span> Lock with mortise cut into doorjamb

A mortise lock is a lock that requires a pocket—the mortise—to be cut into the edge of the door or piece of furniture into which the lock is to be fitted. In most parts of the world, mortise locks are found on older buildings constructed before the advent of bored cylindrical locks, but they have recently become more common in commercial and upmarket residential construction in the United States. The design is widely used in domestic properties of all vintages in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot metal typesetting</span> Mechanical analog method for text composition

In printing and typography, hot metal typesetting is a technology for typesetting text in letterpress printing. This method injects molten type metal into a mold that has the shape of one or more glyphs. The resulting sorts or slugs are later used to press ink onto paper. Normally the typecasting machine would be controlled by a keyboard or by a paper tape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Door handle</span> Device to open or close door

A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including exterior doors of residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehicle doors. There are many designs of door handle, depending on the appropriate use. A large number of handles, particularly for commercial and residential doors, incorporate latching or locking mechanisms or are manufactured to fit to standardised door locking or latching mechanisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hongkong Post</span> Government department of Hong Kong

Hongkong Post is a government department of Hong Kong responsible for postal services, though operated as a trading fund. Founded in 1841, it was known as Postal Department or Post Office before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. It has been a sub-member of the Universal Postal Union since 1877, and is a separate entity from China Post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post box</span> Box for collecting outgoing mail

A post box, also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a country's postal service. The term post box can also refer to a private letter box for incoming mail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pillar box</span> British free-standing post box

A pillar box is a type of free-standing post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories, and, less commonly, in many members of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Cyprus, India, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Malta, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Republic of Ireland. Pillar boxes were provided in territories administered by the United Kingdom, such as Mandatory Palestine, and territories with agency postal services provided by the British Post Office such as Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait and Morocco. The United Kingdom also exported pillar boxes to countries that ran their own postal services, such as Argentina, Portugal and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wall box</span>

Wall boxes are a type of post box or letter box found in many countries including France, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Crown dependencies and Ireland. They differ from pillar boxes in that, instead of being a free-standing structure, they are generally set into a wall or supported on a free-standing pole, girder or other stable structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamp box</span>

Lamp boxes are the smallest of the post boxes used by the Royal Mail in the UK, by its counterparts in the Commonwealth of Nations and also by An Post in Ireland. Their name derives from the fact that they were designed to be affixed to lamp posts, although they may equally be found embedded in walls or mounted on poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal cypher</span> Monogram-like device of a countrys reigning sovereign

In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. Such a cypher as used by an emperor or empress is called an imperial cypher. In the system used by various Commonwealth realms, the title is abbreviated as 'R' for 'rex' or 'regina'. Previously, 'I' stood for 'imperator' or 'imperatrix' of the Indian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pillar Box War</span> 1950s post box vandalism in Scotland

The Pillar Box War refers to a number of politically motivated acts of vandalism against post boxes in Scotland during the early 1950s in a dispute over the correct title of the new British monarch, Elizabeth II or Elizabeth I.

A collection plate is a notice plate fixed to a post box giving the times of collections and days of the week on which these collections are made. They are used extensively in the UK and Commonwealth countries, as well as in most other postal administrations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Island United States Post Office and Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Federal Building, Grand Island, Nebraska is a historic post office, federal office and courthouse building located at Grand Island in Hall County, Nebraska. It is no longer used as a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laredo United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic government building located in Laredo in Webb County, Texas. It previously served as a custom house and a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It continues to serve as a post office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art in bronze and brass</span>

Art in bronze and brass dates from remote antiquity. These important metals are alloys, bronze composed of copper and tin and brass of copper and zinc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Anne's Walk</span> Building in Barnstaple, Devon, England

Queen Anne's Walk is a grade I listed building in the town of Barnstaple, North Devon, completed in 1713 as a meeting place for the town's merchants. It is believed to have been designed by the architect William Talman, on the basis of its similarity to his work at the Hall in Drayton, Northamptonshire. It was promoted and financed by the thirteen members of the Corporation of Barnstaple whose armorials are sculpted on and above the parapet, and the work was overseen by Robert Incledon (1676–1758), Mayor of Barnstaple in 1712–13. It has been owned for many decades by North Devon District Council, which currently (2014) leases it to Barnstaple Town Council, and now trades as The Cafe on the Strand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortitude Valley Post Office</span> Heritage-listed post office in Brisbane, Queensland

Fortitude Valley Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 740 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Colonial Architect's Office and built in 1887 by William Ferguson. It is also known as Fortitude Valley Post & Telegraph Office. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.

Muswellbrook Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 7 Bridge Street, Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 08 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temora Post Office</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Temora Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 173 Hoskins Street, Temora, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayr Post Office</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Ayr Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 155 Queen Street, Ayr, Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by the Commonwealth Department of Interior and was built in 1936. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 August 2012.

References