Penfold Pillar Box outside 23 Hampstead High Street and junction with Gayton Street

The Penfold pillar box, located outside 23 Hampstead High Street at the junction with Gayton Street, dates from around 1866 to 1879. It is made of cast iron and features a hexagonal shape on a moulded base. The door has the initials "VR" and a moulded frame for collection times, with the royal arms above the mouth flanked by the words "Post" and "Office." The box is topped with a hexagonal domed lid that has a beaded cornice and a foliated dome. It is no longer in use.

In 1914, this pillar box was damaged by militant suffragettes from the Women’s Social and Political Union, which was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. This group engaged in direct actions to campaign for women's voting rights. In November 1911, Emily Wilding Davison became the first suffragette to attempt to set fire to a pillar box, and over the next three years, suffragettes targeted pillar boxes across Britain using various means to destroy the mail inside. On 9 January 1914, smoke was seen coming from this box, and upon inspection, it was found that tar and oil had been poured in and ignited, causing significant damage. A message referring to suffragette prisoners was discovered inside, indicating the involvement of the culprits. The listing was amended in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.