Penfold Pillarbox

By Alan Curtis

Close up of the acorn on the lap of the preserved box at MOTAT. Image courtesy Bryna Foster.

In 2023 I came across an article about an English kitset model of a Victorian Post Box. The writer had purchased one and his curiosity led him to do some research, and he was able to confirm that it is excellent example of a Penfold Letter Box.

So, what does this matter to us in New Zealand? Named after John Penfold, the architect who designed it, Penfold boxes are very widespread, with the biggest accumulations in England in London and Cheltenham. Others are spread across Ireland, India, British Guyana, Australia and New Zealand.

Post box preserved at MOTAT. Image courtesy Bryna Foster.

About 300 were made in the UK, of which about 150 survive. Another nearly 100 replicas were made at the end of the 1980s and installed in the UK. Genuine Penfolds can be seen at the British Postal Museum & Archive Museum Store in Essex, and a number of museums throughout England.

Penfolds, which are distinguished by their hexagonal construction and the acanthus bud surmounting the cap, were originally exclusively city based. The New Zealand boxes are the only Penfolds to bear the cypher of King Edward VII; all others in the former British controlled territories have the cypher of Queen Victoria. The acanthus bud and leaf decoration on the top of Penfold boxes was also emulated in a design of cylindrical post boxes for New Zealand and Australia. 

There are a number of Penfold boxes remaining in New Zealand, most being cast by P&D Duncan of Christchurch. Examples can be found at Post Office Square, Customhouse Quay, Wellington; at Burnett Street, Ashburton (although curiously without its bud); in a street in Hawera in Dunedin; and at the Museum of Transport & Technology in Auckland.

There are many photos on the internet that show the varieties and. colours that can be found throughout tire world. The Letter Box Study Group (https://lbsg,org) is another valuable source of information.

This article was previously published in the NZ MODEL Railway Journal in June 2023

Penfold box preserved at Taranaki Pioneer Museum in Stratford. Image courtesy Alan Curtis