Post box, Opp. No. 637 Lisburn Road, near Cranmore Gardens, Belfast

A free-standing cast-iron post box of King George VI type, erected on the Lisburn Road near the junction with Cranmore Gardens in the Malone Conservation Area between 1938 and 1952. The box was manufactured by Lion Foundry Co Ltd, Kirkintilloch, and represents a significant example of mid-twentieth-century postal infrastructure.

The post box stands 5 feet tall and follows the standard cylindrical design characteristic of British pillar boxes introduced in 1879. It is painted pillar box red throughout except for the black base. The shallow cap has a fluted edge. Below this is the hinged door, mounted on the left side with a raised cup handle on the right and a raised lock and keyhole above. At the top of the door is a hooded rectangular aperture for inserting letters. Above the aperture sits a small holder containing a removable plate indicating the next collection day, with "NEXT COLLECTION" in raised letters beside it. Below the aperture is a notice plate holder displaying collection times and the box number (BT9 587). The lower door face bears the Royal Cipher "GR VI" in cursive script with a raised crown above and "POST OFFICE" below.

The box measures approximately 21 inches in diameter around the cap, 15½ inches around the shaft, and 17 inches around the base, indicating this is a B-type (smaller) post box. Lion Foundry Co Ltd, founded in the 1880s, commenced manufacturing post boxes after 1950, which dates this particular example to approximately 1950-52. The box first appears on Ordnance Survey town plans in 1957.

The cylindrical pillar box design was first introduced in Britain in 1879 in the iconic red colour. Originally these boxes lacked Royal ciphers and were unofficially known as "anonymous boxes", but from 1887 new post boxes were inscribed with the appropriate Royal cipher. This George VI example is relatively rare amongst surviving Belfast post boxes, as examples from this reign appear less common than those from the reigns of George V or the present monarch. The Lion Foundry may have been the only manufacturer of such boxes supplying South Belfast. Post boxes of this era remain of significant social importance as a means by which people communicate with one another.