Post Box, Windsor Park (facing Windsor Court), Belfast

This pillar post box, erected between 1901 and 1910, stands on the pavement in Windsor Park opposite Windsor Court in the Malone Conservation Area. It is a fine example of early twentieth-century street furniture and represents an important conduit for distance communication at the time of its installation.

The post box is a free-standing cast-iron structure of standard cylindrical design, standing 5 feet 0 inches high. It measures 21 inches in diameter around its cap, 15½ inches around the shaft, and 17 inches around the base. The entire surface is painted in pillar box red except for the black base, which carries the maker's name: 'Handyside Derby & London'. A canted steel plate is attached to the rear, held in place with two steel straps.

Below the shallow oversailing cap, whose edge is fluted, sits a hooded rectangular aperture for letter insertion. To either side of this aperture are raised letters reading 'POST' and 'OFFICE'. The door, hinged at the left, is positioned directly below the aperture and features a raised lock on the right. Above the door is a notice plate holder containing collection day and time details, with the box number (BT9 250D) displayed at the bottom. To the upper right is a small removable plate indicating the day of the next collection. Below the notice plate holder is an 'E R VII' cipher in cursive script with a raised crown above.

The post box was constructed by Handyside of Derby and London, a foundry founded by Andrew Handyside in 1847 and originally based at the Britannia Foundry, Duke Street, Derby. The box first appears on the 1920 Ordnance Survey town plan of Belfast. Boxes of this cylindrical design were first introduced by the Post Office in 1879, succeeding the hexagonal Penfold pattern. Early versions had no royal cipher, but from 1887 onwards the cipher was added, along with the words 'POST OFFICE' flanking the aperture, as seen on this example. Although the exact number of post boxes dating from King Edward VII's reign still surviving in Northern Ireland is not yet known, they are believed to be relatively few and are consequently of considerable value.