The Penfold Pillar Box, introduced in 1866, is a cast-iron hexagonal postal box designed by Victorian architect John Wornham Penfold and manufactured by Cochrane, Grove & Co. at the Woodside Ironworks in Dudley. Celebrated for its ornate classical detailing, the design features a moulded hexagonal base, a front door with the VR cipher for Queen Victoria, and a domed roof enriched with acanthus leaves and a beaded cornice. Produced from 1866 to 1879 across three evolving sizes, the boxes were originally painted bronze-green before adopting Post Office Red. Surviving examples are now rare Grade II listed structures, preserved as distinctive elements of 19th-century British street furniture. - AsNotedIn
| Y/M/D | Association | Description | Place | Locale | Food | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1866/00/00 | John W Penfold | Industrial Designer | Architect J W Penfold is commissioned to design a new standardised postal box. | ||||
| 1867/00/00 | The Penfold Pillar box on the High Street is a Mark 1 model cast by Cochrane and Co of Dudley. Cochrane began manufacturing the Mark 1 in 1866. | Penfold Pillar Box, Hampstead High St | Hampstead | ||||
| 1872/00/00 | Due to chronic complaints about mail getting jammed in the roof corners, the Mark 1 is overhauled. Starting in 1872, Cochrane and Co rolls out the Mark 2 variant, which lowered the posting aperture and moved the Royal Coat of Arms upward onto the roof lid | ||||||
| 1872/00/00 | A cast-iron Penfold pillar box is manufactured by Cochrane and Co at the Woodside Ironworks in Dudley, England. The box will later stand outside the Royal Mail NW District Office on St Pancras Way after being moved to this location around 2014. | Penfold Pillar Box Outside Royal Mail North West District Office | London | ||||
| 1874/00/30 | Royal Mail adopts a new standard, replacing the earlier bronze-green finish with the now familiar red paint on pillar boxes. | ||||||
| 1879/00/00 | Production of Penfold pillar boxes ends as Cochrane, Grove and Co discontinue the hexagonal design. The Penfold is phased out in favor of more economical, higher-capacity cylindrical pillars. Of the 300 or so cast, fewer than 150 remain on public streets. | ||||||
| 1914/01/09 | Smoke rises from the pillar box - opened, it reveals tar and oil deliberately set alight, leaving its contents badly charred. A note about suffragette prisoners lies inside, pointing toward the culprits. | Penfold Pillar Box, Hampstead High St | Hampstead | English Women's Suffragette Arson Attacks and Bombings |
| Particulars for Penfold Pillar Box: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Build Material | Cast Iron | versatile, iron-carbon alloy known for excellent castability, high compressive strength, durability | |
| Category for Historic Use | Government | ||
| Area of Significance | Industrial Design | shaping physical goods, devices and systems meant for mass production | |
| Material | Iron | ||
| Communications | Post Box, Mailbox | public box with a slot into which post is placed for collection by the post office | |
| Communications | Postal System | network that collects, sorts, transports and delivers letters, packets and parcels to domestic and international recipients | |
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