Description

A wall-mounted cast iron post box, dating from around 1865 and set within a rubble boundary wall to a house on Kirk Wynd The box is a rectangular 'Box No. 2 Small' model manufactured by Smith & Hawkes of Birmingham and is painted Post Office Red. It has a moulded surround and a raised door panel with an integrated handle, a keyhole with a cover and an off-centre tablet holder. The top has raised lettering 'VR' (the cypher of Queen Victoria) with the Imperial State Crown set between them. Below this, the hood of the letter slot has raised lettering 'POST OFFICE' with 'LETTER BOX' and a moulded information panel below. The name of the manufacturer is at the bottom of the box in raised lettering.

The post box is set within a concrete insert in a garden wall on Cash Feus, Strathmiglo, just east of the junction with Kirk Wynd. The wall forms part of the front garden for a house known as 'Rowanlea', on Kirk Wynd.

Historical development

The post box is first marked in this location on the Ordnance Survey National Grid Map (Revised 1968, published 1969). Previous historical maps do not show a post box anywhere on Cash Feus (see Ordnance Survey map revised 1938, published 1948). The mapping, manufacturer's stamp and concrete surround all suggest that the post box was moved to this location from elsewhere in the mid-20^th century. Its original location is unknown.

Wall-mounted post boxes were first introduced in Britain in 1857 as a cheaper alternative to pillar boxes suitable for smaller towns and rural areas. They were initially manufactured for the Post Office by Smith & Hawkes who operated the Eagle Foundry on Broad Street in Birmingham. This example at Strathmiglo matches their variation on the standard design 'Box No. 2 Small', which was introduced in 1861. The box can be dated to before 1872 when Smith & Hawkes was taken over by Bernard P Walker and the foundry stamps on the boxes changed to show either his name or that of the Birmingham foundry, Eagle, Range & Foundry Co.

Cash Feus developed as a southern suburb of Strathmiglo in the 19^th century around the linen weaving mill on the south bank of the River Eden. There was a post office in Strathmiglo on the High Street near Station Road from at least as early as the 1890s (Ordnance Survey 25 Inch: Revised 1893, published 1895).

Statement of Interest

The post box on Cash Feus, Strathmiglo, meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

• It is a notable example of a wall type post box dating from around the mid 1860s, which remains largely unaltered.
• Although it has been moved, the present location is typical for wall-mounted post boxes and the setting retains its historic character.
• It is one of the earliest standard designs of wall-mounted post boxes that were used by the Post Office.
• It is a relatively rare example of a model that had a limited period of production, from 1861-71, which survives largely unaltered and has remained in continued use.

Architectural interest

Design

The wall post box at Cash Feus is a 'No.2 Small' type, which was introduced in 1861. It is one of the earliest casting designs for wall-mounted post boxes, which were first introduced in the UK in 1857. The 'No.2 Small' model was a variation on the Second National Standard design (debuted in 1859), which had introduced the covered letter aperture and had a pedimented hood. The 'No.2 Small' type does not feature the pedimented hood but introduced a larger, lower placed door that made clearing the contents easier. It also retained the landscape orientation of the information panel, which is a feature of early wall boxes. In 1871 the 'No.2 Small' model was replaced with the 'Type C' post box, which relocated the display panel onto the door to make it easier to update collection times.

Smith & Hawkes were one of the earliest manufacturers of British post boxes and held contracts for both pillar boxes and wall boxes from the 1850s to the 1870s. Cast-iron post boxes were manufactured at their Eagle Foundry in Birmingham.

Setting

The post box is located on the north side of Cash Feus mounted in a 19^th-century rubble stone boundary wall enclosing the garden of Rowanlea on Kirk Wynd. It is positioned just east of the junction with Kirk Wynd and is clearly visible.

Map regression shows that the box was relocated to this location in the mid-20^th century, sometime between 1938 and 1968. Although not original, the present setting is a typical location for a wall-mounted post box which were often intended for smaller rural towns, villages and rural areas. The post box forms part of the historic character of Cash Feus which is largely made up of modest traditional houses and garden walls.

Age and rarity

Wall post boxes are a common and prolific type of street furniture but the post box on Cash Feus is an early example of a standard wall box design in Scotland. Information from the Letter Box Study Group website indicates that there are around 2,900 wall-mounted post boxes from the reign of Queen Victoria surviving across the UK. The earliest surviving example in Scotland is dated 1861 and is mounted on the wall of the former Sutherland Arms Hotel on Bank Street in Golspie (listed at category B, ref: LB7007). It is the slightly earlier Second National Standard type, first introduced in the UK in 1859, which features a pedimented hood.

Smith & Hawkes were one of the first manufacturers of wall post boxes for the Post Office (1857-74), and the design of the Cash Feus box was brought into use in 1861, four years after wall post boxes were first introduced in the UK. There is one other known example of this model (Second National Standard No.2 Size Small) listed in Scotland in Dean Village, Edinburgh (category B, ref no: LB49694) and there are around six listed by Historic England at Grade II (such as ref. no: 1249433).

While wall post boxes are not rare, the number produced during the 1850s-1870s was considerably less when compared with later decades. This example on Cash Feus is an unusually early surviving example in Scotland of one of the first casting models. Although it is no longer in its original location, it is still in use and remains largely unaltered.

Social historical interest

Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.

The post box has some social historical interest as it represents the development of the early postal communications in Strathmiglo during the later 19th century.

Association with people or events of national importance

There is no association with a person or event of national importance.

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