The Postal Museum

The Postal Museum We're an independent London museum telling the surprising stories of the post. The home of Mail Rail, your favourite miniature, underground train.
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05/10/2026

Ever wondered what those different symbols on postboxes mean?

They're Royal Cyphers, each tell us when the postbox was put in a location based on the reign of the monarch depicted. Here we can tell that this box in Stamford Hill is well over 125 years old because it has Queen Victoria's royal cypher. Meaning it's stood on this street corner across three different centuries!

From 5pm today our online bookings and box office support will be closed for a systems upgrade.During this time it will ...
04/10/2026

From 5pm today our online bookings and box office support will be closed for a systems upgrade.

During this time it will not be possible to book tickets to the museum and Mail Rail, including events, but we will be back up and running as normal by Wednesday morning. The rest of our website and online shop will remain operational throughout this time.

The museum will also be closed to visitors on Tuesday 6 October as a result of these planned upgrades.

Thank you for your patience.

This is a first from us. Our furthest flung Postbox Saturday comes all the way from Sri Lanka! Photographed in city of N...
03/10/2026

This is a first from us. Our furthest flung Postbox Saturday comes all the way from Sri Lanka! Photographed in city of Nuwara Eliya by a member of the museum team on a trip away and it’s led to something of a mystery we wanted to solve.

Zoom in and you’ll find the royal cypher of King George V, but one that's very different to the ones you’ll find on British boxes, which simply bear the letters GR and no roman numeral V. You’ll find an example by swiping across.

Instead, this cypher looks more like the cypher of King George VI and we’re certain that we haven’t confused them because on the base it’s written that the box was manufactured in Colombo in 1929 - 19 years into King George V’s reign.

King George V was the first George to reign since postboxes started appearing on British streets and he didn’t feel the need to make the distinction that he was ‘the fifth’. Even though this somewhat contradicts the fact his father King Edward VII included numerals on his own postbox cyphers!

To see if we could get to the bottom of this puzzle, we contacted postbox experts who were able to provide us with an answer. Apparently, there are 'a few rare examples' of boxes produced overseas having this alternative George V cypher. These were often locally produced boxes in various parts of the former British Empire who would have used the monarch’s imperial cypher, not the version King George has wanted to use for postboxes in Britain.

As it turns out, we even have a box with the very same cypher at our museum store in Debden! It's a box from Hong Kong, which as you can see from the last image has that very same imperial cypher as the one we spotted in Sri Lanka.

Mystery solved.

Pick your weekend, Jolly Postman edition.There's plenty of ways to spend it, including a visit to our Jolly Postman exhi...
02/10/2026

Pick your weekend, Jolly Postman edition.

There's plenty of ways to spend it, including a visit to our Jolly Postman exhibition, which isn't such a bad idea either.

Celebrate 40 years of Janet and Allan Ahlberg's classic children's book throughout 2026 with our new exhibition, full of interactive displays and original illustrations and insights from the books creation.

Included in every ticket to The Postal Museum, book yours via the link in our bio.

👉️ https://buff.ly/pKIsrAm

Whether you've been to Norfolk or Venice, sending a postcard has been a holiday tradition for well over a century.Wishin...
01/10/2026

Whether you've been to Norfolk or Venice, sending a postcard has been a holiday tradition for well over a century.

Wishing all our followers a Happy World Postcard Day, what better way to celebrate than popping one in the post next time you're away (or even if you're not).

Today is World River Day so we're celebrating the unsung heroes of the Thames. Once a staple of London's waterways, the ...
27/09/2026

Today is World River Day so we're celebrating the unsung heroes of the Thames.

Once a staple of London's waterways, the Thames River Postmen delivered and collected mail from house boats, barges, sailing vessels whilst occasionally ferrying the odd civilian.

Operating on the stretch of the river between London and Tower Bridge, remarkably the job stayed in the same family for over a century between 1810 to 1952.

Six members of the Evans family navigated the river all year round, no matter the weather or the current. Find out more about their one of a kind story below.

👉️ https://buff.ly/hPU0PYv

27/09/2026

Today marks the final day of the International Week of Deaf People, which among many great things, promotes national sign languages, culture and achievements.

In 1981 this postage stamp was released in the UK alongside three others to promote disability awareness and promote positive attitudes to people with disabilities. It marked the first time sign language had ever been included on a postage stamp anywhere in the world.

Next month we're delighted to be taking part in the British Library's Stories, Sign and Shine day, along with 20 other organisations, to deliver accessible and inclusive family activities.

Next month we're delighted to be taking part in the British Library's Stories, Sign and Shine day, along with 20 other organisations, to deliver accessible and inclusive family activities.

This free family festival has been designed to be fully accessible for families with D/ deaf children, parents and carers, with our activity curated by Mischa and Damaris.

Find out more by heading to the British Library website or drop in on the day, taking place between 12 to 4 pm on Saturday 17 October.

On this day in history, the Metropolitan Police was founded and 150 years later in 1979, a set of commemorative postage ...
26/09/2026

On this day in history, the Metropolitan Police was founded and 150 years later in 1979, a set of commemorative postage stamps were released to mark the landmark anniversary, which is where this story begins.

Over the summer a member of the public contacted us whose partner had featured on one of those very stamps as a little girl, which naturally piqued our interest. It's not everyday you hear from someone who claims to have been immortalised on a postage stamp after all!

We arranged a visit for Nikki and her fiancé to visit us in our archive, where she came bearing newspaper clippings, original photographs and even the same doll she was holding in the illustration.

Nikki was able to share the story of how she and her brother came to be included on an iconic stamp artwork, whilst we were able to share all the original designs and templates with her. We also showed her correspondence from Buckingham Palace about the stamp issue itself.

It turns out Nikki's mother knew a local artist who was seeking to be commissioned for the upcoming final designs and needed a pair of children to model for the submission.

The design featuring the pair was chosen, although as you can see from a side by side comparison on the last slide, her older brother ended up being much younger in the final issue! A fascinating behind the scenes insight into the process of designing and commissioning a stamp.

The start of the weekend means one thing to us, Postbox Saturday!Our contribution this week is an Edward VII pillar box ...
26/09/2026

The start of the weekend means one thing to us, Postbox Saturday!

Our contribution this week is an Edward VII pillar box photographed over the summer months in Canonbury, North London.

23/09/2026

What have visitors been sending one another in our Pneumatic Tube? The results might surprise you.

Apologies for any rude language in this video that might cause offence. 💩

Address

15-20 Phoenix Place
London
WC1X0DA

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+44 (0)300 0300 700

Website

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