Longevity

Cast iron post boxes have very long lives. Roadside post boxes date back to the 1850s, and many pillar boxes and wall boxes from Queen Victoria’s reign remain in service, all of which are now over 100 years old. Contrast this to the disastrous Vandyke Engineering steel pillar boxes that were all removed due to corrosion damage.

Damaged (and indeed stolen) lamp boxes are easily replaced; less so pillar boxes and moreover wall boxes. It is not unheard of to find a damaged post box that has been left in service, repaired if necessary.

Despite the brittle nature of cast iron, a pillar box can be completely uprooted following a collision from a vehicle yet remain intact, even if Royal Mail then take the damage as an excuse to remove the pillar box completely.

Damage left as-is:

Damage since repaired: