A (very old) Red Post Box

Post boxes ... those receptacles where we can post our letters here in Jersey in the Channel Islands, and across the British Isles (and the UK) .... are not just functional, many of them are a thing of beauty and can also tell us about our history.

They are sometimes also called 'Pillar Boxes' when they are stand-alone items.

For those who live in other parts of the world who often might only post letters at an actual Post Office, this might seem unusual. But red post/mailboxes ... either as those stand-alone pillar boxes or, built into a wall cavity, are a striking part of our street scenes, and a constant reminder of our history.

The boxes represent the Royal Mail... or in our case, Jersey Post ... and the clues to their age and origin are right there.

Each one bears the Crown, and the letters are called the “Royal Cypher”. They signify the King or Queen who was the monarch at the time when the post box was erected.

Most of the red post (or mail or pillar) boxes you can currently see around the British Isles, of which the Channel Islands are a part) currently bear the initials ER ... representing the late Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned over the United Kingdom, Great Britain and its 'Crown Dependencies', of which Jersey is one, for more than 70 years before her death on 8 September 2022. 

ER stands for 'Elizabeth Regina'.

But older boxes still exist, and this one on the left, bearing the initial GR, is still in use in the parish of St Ouen in Jersey. It's set into a granite pillar outside the Morrison's supermarket in the village.

GR stands for 'George Rex'... King George. Queen Elizabeth took the throne when her father died on 6 February 1952 ... he was King George VI and he reigned from 11 December 1936, taking the British throne when his brother Edward VIII abdicated after less than a year as monarch. Edward had succeeded to the throne on 20 January 1936 when his father, and Queen Elizabeth's grandfather, King George V, passed away.

A GR post box was put up during the era of a King George and if there are no more letters around the GR, then it’s likely from the period of King George V.

If it’s from the era of King George VI I'm reliably informed that we may notice a little “VI” next to the GR.

SO ... bottom line ... it appears that this red post box dates from the reign of Elizabeth's grandfather! It's very old! Maybe more than 100 years old ... And it's still in use today!

The interesting thing is those two post boxes above actually sit at the same location, just about a metre apart ... it's great that the postal authorities have left the old box there as a testament to history!

And if you're wondering... at some point in the future we'll start to see new post boxes bearing the Crown and the initials CR ... representing our 'new' and current King Charles III, who succeeded to the throne on his mother Elizabeth's death on 8 September 2022.

For those geeks among us, interested in stuff like 'street furniture', this sort of thing is very exciting. I have yet to see a red post box with the initials VR (Victoria Regina, representing Queen Victoria, who reigned from 20 June 1837 to 22 January 1901) ... but I'm assured some of those red pillar /post/mailboxes do STILL exist!

Just a little footnote ... a similar post about the old GR post box first appeared on my ClickASnap website, which I'm loving populating! Click here to check it out if you want to... or click on the link on this website.

Thanks! Enjoy!