Easily identified but not so easily found. The Nigerian is an oddity amongst UK pillar boxes. Three Points of the Compass dives into the history of a post box originally destined for overseas but instead found its way on to British streets.

A very noticeable aspect of UK streets are the brightly painted red post boxes. There are many tens of thousands of these. They have quite a bit of variety and are comprised of pillar boxes, wall boxes, lamp boxes, with quite a few oddities that are mostly of interest only to the historian, enthusiast, or those wanting to post a letter. Three Points of the Compass will always cast an eye over a post box when passing one as I can often spot an anomaly. The small size B type pillar is a fairly common box that throws up quite a few varieties and on just a few occasions I have been fortunate enough to identify a particular survivor from a period of reluctant official acceptance of a short-term solution.

Following a hundred years of experimentation, by the mid-nineteenth century, the types of pillar boxes supplied to the British Post Office had settled down to just three. Manufactured by various foundries, these were two cylindrical boxes- A type (large) and B type (small) and the very large, oval, two aperture, two door C type. These were ordinarily supplemented by a range of three sizes of wall box and the cheap to produce 1940 pattern of Lamp box (introduced 1949). This portfolio was sufficiently diverse for an appropriate size and shape of post box to be sited in most locations to suit mail volumes and local requirements.

Because of the small range of pillar boxes being cast, the patterns used by the foundries came under heavy and prolonged use. By the 1970s, the patterns used by the Carron foundry in Falkirk to cast the majority of both A and B type pillar boxes were becoming worn out. The steel patterns for the door and body of the smaller B type had been broken and repaired numerous times since the contract with Carron had commenced in the 1950s. The cost of renewal of patterns was estimated at £21,000, a considerable cost at the time, and despite new patterns being authorised in 1976, the tender had still not been placed a year later pending a decision as to whether A and B types would actually be continued with.

In 1968 a limited trial commenced with a new design of ‘square’ post box. This ‘F’ type utilised sheet steel side panels hung on an angular internal framework that incorporated an ‘easy clear’ internal mechanism. Only 205 of these boxes were made and none survive on the street today. A victim of their time, their construction and material left much to be desired and a more durable alternative was sought. This manifested itself in the square cast iron ‘interim G type’ introduced in 1974 and intended at the time to be a replacement for the standard cylindrical pillar boxes. That said, the G type was not going to be a cheaper box to produce. In October 1977 the cost of each of three of the designs was: A type- £265, B type- £181, G type- £457.

The Post Office’s departmental expert on post boxes at the time was D. Poulton of the Postal Headquarters, Mechanisation and Buildings Department. In the early 1970s he had recommended fundamental changes to the design of pillar boxes intended to simplify and improve production. He intimated that up to 40% of the cost of cylindrical boxes was in ‘”unnecessary flutings, beadings, bevellings etc.“. He believed that such unnecessary features added weight, cost and hindered the manufacturing process. It was thought that the inclusion of a rotary dial/collection plate could be incorporated in a modified ‘modern’ looking box, the extra cost being offset by savings made from simplified design. Other design changes proposed by him included altering the size of the Royal Insignia, altering the design of the internal wire guard and replacing the words ‘POST OFFICE’ with ‘ROYAL MAIL’ on the front of the box. It was Poulton that had been closely involved in the design of the G type, a radically different design of ‘square’ box intended to replace both A and B type pillars. Alternatively, two of the square boxes could be placed side by side to provide the same facility as a large double aperture C type box. While the G type was in production, the numbers produced were so low that the traditional cylindrical A and B type pillars were still required.

Despite problems with the worn patterns for A and B pillar boxes, Carron continued to cast these boxes for the Post Office, though due to the difficulties, the number produced were limited and a back-log of orders steadily built up. The situation couldn’t continue and when Poulton visited their foundry in September 1978 to try and ascertain why production was so slow his report to postal headquarters was simple if slightly premature: “the patterns for the ‘B’ box have finally given up the ghost”

The ‘Nigerian’ Pillar Box

At the same time as Poulton was making his recommendations, the Carron foundry were separately seeking to supply a large quantity of both B type pillar and wall boxes to Nigeria. Rather than use the existing patterns they used to make boxes for the British Post Office and have to pay a royalty, Carron made new copies from them and modified the design by casting the cap in with the body. This was quite a change in design as caps on pillar boxes were normally cast separately and then bolted to the main upright body. They also simplified the door hinging and wire guard and cast a boss on the door for the Nigerian insignia. However the Nigerian contract fell through.

J.B. Taylor, Technical Manager at the Engineering Division of the Carron Foundry, wrote to Poulton on 25 September on the subject of the worn out patterns and the backlog of orders for B type boxes He proposed that Carron use their ‘Nigerian Pillar’ design to meet the outstanding order for post boxes. Carron’s new patterns were in good condition and could be used without delay. Carron had investigated if they could change the door pattern of the Nigerian box to incorporate the ‘British’ crown and EiiR cipher but had found that this was impractical and a new door pattern was required that Carron estimated would take three to four weeks to produce. They would then be in a position to manufacture complete boxes five to six weeks after that. On 19 September 1978 Poulton made his recommendations to his superior. These were:

• The existing pattern for B type boxes could no longer be used and were expensive to replace.
• 190 B type boxes were required to fill the existing contract.
• The ‘Nigerian’ design already existed from which good quality castings were produced.
• Carron were willing to produce a new door pattern at their cost and could start production 10 weeks following approval.
• The door aperture and door were both machined around the edges as doors were interchangeable and not individually fitted. Poulton believed this would aid future provision of spares.
• The Nigerian box ‘should’ cost less than the existing B type due to savings in time of finishing of castings and fitting of doors. The cost of fitting hinges and internal wire guard was also less.

Poulton’s summary was slightly incorrect in that the outstanding order was for 171 boxes, though by April 1979, this had risen to 200 B type pillars. The major stumbling block to the proposal was that Carron would have ownership of the patterns for both body and doors. Poulton was also concerned that by approving use of the new patterns, the Post Office was in danger of perpetuating the ‘old’ B type box design beyond meeting the requirements of the existing contract with Carron. Other officials were less concerned with any risk in accepting this short term solution as yet another design of pillar box was also being worked on. This was the Tony Gibbs designed ‘K’ type. It was for this reason that expenditure on any new type of Post Office designed B type patterns was felt unnecessary.

“It seems entirely reasonable to use the Nigerian patterns, with new door, to overcome any short-term supply problem until such time as the K box or its B-type size equivalent is in production. Please advise Mr Poulton of our agreement”

M. Wood, 31 October 1978

Authority to proceed with ordering a ‘1979 pattern’ B type pillar box was given by Postal Headquarters on 31 October 1978, though perhaps surprisingly, the proposal was not put in front of their Design Advisor prior to approval.

Each pillar box body was cast in two halves and each half incorporated half of a cap. The two halves of the box were then joined together and a separately cast door fitted. Many fairly standard features were either excluded or reduced to a minimum. The boxes have a ‘depth marker’ cast into the base, boxes having a fairly short base for placement below ground level. It would appear that Carron saved on the metal used in an attempt to both cut costs and maximise profit as 1979 pattern boxes weigh substantially less than standard B type boxes.

The 1979 pattern is a simplified version of the ‘standard’ B type design of pillar box. No fluting was incorporated into the design of the cap. This is a distinctive feature, or rather, lack of a feature. Though extremely uncommon, it is not difficult to identify a surviving example. The cap has a plain lower edge, in contrast to the scalloped fluting found on the standard A, B and C type pillars. The only box it could be confused with are the D and E combination boxes introduced in the 1930s, but those are oval in shape rather than cylindrical. These combination boxes are the subject of a separate post on street furniture.

A ten-inch wide aperture is incorporated on the pillar box, that juts out quite a degree. This was larger than the apertures on most post boxes previously produced and provides a ‘gaping mouth’ appearance that is not in keeping with aesthetic design. The front appearance of the pillar box is not particularly pleasing when compared to many other box designs and the heavy protruding weather guard strip and door pull give a lop-sided appearance.

The grey painted example in the Postal Museum collection permits the wide base to be seen. This wide flange addressed a problem encountered when boxes were transported, as a large number of breakages occurred to pillar boxes whilst in transit. Carron utilised British Rail or British Road Services (National Freight Corporation) for delivering boxes and as many as five in seven boxes sustained damage when being moved by them. By incorporating a same diameter base flange and cap on the 1979 pattern boxes, this enabled the pillars to be rolled along the ground with ease and damage was minimised as a result.

There are a number of variants to the door design on the 1979 pattern pillar box. On most boxes produced, the words ‘POST OFFICE’ are cast into the door and appear below the EiiR cipher and crown. EiiR stands for Queen Elizabeth the Second, the reigning monarch at the time of their installation. A variant produced for use in Scotland has a different door fitted. This has a ‘Scottish’ crown on the door. Another variant occasionally found in the UK has a plain door with neither crown nor cipher. The pattern for the modified doors was the only part that actually belonged to the Post Office and Carron held the rights to the other pattern moulds. Internally, within the Post Office, the box became known as the ‘1979 pattern B type’ but was also often referred to as the ‘Nigerian’ box.

The 1979 design of B type pillar box also featured a change in the design of the door hinges, these now incorporated threaded coach-type bolts that were screwed into the box. In June 1981 it was reported in Leeds that in five boxes, these hinge screws (swivel pins) has unscrewed themselves and the doors were in danger of falling off. 575 modified ‘Longlok’ hinge screws were obtained from Inlex Loking Inc., Surrey the following year. The change was a simple plastic insert to each screw that enabled a self-locking feature. However they were only fitted (in pairs) to boxes where screws clearly showed signs of working loose. Carron were advised to produce all further 1979 pattern B types with the same hinge pin as used on the previous design. While this may have done something to solve one problem, it didn’t answer another design issue with the hinges. The thin castings frequently broke and required repair. Susceptible to both screws coming adrift and thin castings breaking, this is the Achilles heel of the boxes

Despite the 1979 pattern B type being produced to fill a back-log of orders, the worn out patterns held by Carron had still not been replaced and were also still being used, with difficulty, to produce the ‘standard’ B types, if in smaller numbers than before. The problem of previous years hadn’t gone away:

“As you will appreciate the Pattern has been in constant use for many years but time has finally caught up with it”

A. Matheson, General Manager, Carron Company, 4 April 1980

In April 1980 the Engineering Division at Carron advised the Post Office that the pattern for the door fitted to the pre-1979 B pillars was completely worn out. Their pattern shop stated that a short-term repair could be carried out for £450. This was authorised by the Post Office on 28 April as there was still the need to produce spare parts for pre-1979 pattern boxes.

The K type pillar box was unveiled in eleven locations on 31 July 1980. It was believed that this new pillar box, that also featured the capacity of a large A type box, was the forward thinking design of the future. Considerable good design was incorporated in the box however it is interesting to note that K types suffer from the same Achilles heel as the 1979 pattern B type boxes, i.e. the hinges. The wear on the new type of swan neck hinge on the K type eventually also proved problematic.

By August 1980 concerns were being raised as to which direction the Post Office should be taking with regard to their forward planning in box orders. Future orders for A type boxes were being converted to orders for the markedly different K type pillar box instead. There were arrears of 70 B type boxes which Carron estimated would take eight weeks to clear and an order of a further 85 B type boxes was required to provide enough to last until December. What the Post Office didn’t want to commit to was an order for what many now regarded as an obsolete design.

Despite being a cheaper and simpler design of pillar box originally intended for selling to Nigeria and that original contract subsequently collapsing, at least one of the 1979 pattern B type Nigerian boxes did actually made its way to Nigeria. This may be a pattern box that was sent there for assessment by that country’s postal authority.

While the Post Office did change to a completely new design of pillar box, it is possible that Carron also continued manufacture of the 1979 pattern as they owned the copyright to the patterns. A lone 1979 pattern box has been located in Germany and other 1979 pattern B types are found in the Republic of Ireland. These feature a very prominent circular boss in the centre of the bottom half of the door.

Alternatively, it is possible that the 1979 pattern boxes originally destined for Nigeria are those that made their way to Ireland as the central boss feature was a specified requirement within that abandoned contract. Despite the new K type pillar box introduced by the British Post Office in 1980, a large number of 1979 pattern boxes had already been manufactured and installed. Over 400 of the 1979 pattern Nigerian boxes have been found in the UK though no doubt a greater number than this were originally supplied. Distribution is pretty wide and you may stumble across one of these boxes just about anywhere.

This is part of an occasional series looking at street furniture in the United Kingdom that I add to as I get round to it. Others in this series have been:

• Airmail boxes of the 1930s
• The ‘Ludlow’ post box
• Post boxes on the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path
• Wall boxes- the ‘one in every village’ scheme
• Sustrans Millennium Mileposts– occasionally encountered on the National Cycle Networks
• Telephone Kiosks– can you tell your K2 from your K6?
  • Also- a look back at when both change and a Phonecard had to be carried on trail
• Trail signage– a totally random collection of signage from the trail
• Village and Town Signs