Pillar box, In front of 159 Connsbrook Avenue, Belfast, County Antrim, BT4 1JY

A free-standing cast-iron pillar box erected between 1936 and 1938, mounted on the footpath in front of a small terrace of shops adjacent to Strand Presbyterian Church on the east side of Connsbrook Avenue, Belfast. The box faces towards the road.

The pillar box stands 5 feet high and measures 21¼ inches around its cap, 16 inches around its shaft, and 17 inches around its base. It is painted in the distinctive pillar box red throughout except for the base, which is black. The maker's name, 'Lion Foundry Co Ltd / Kirkintilloch', is cast on the front of the base.

Below a shallow oversailing cap edged with small decorative indentations is an indicator tablet holder containing a tablet showing the next collection day. To the left of this holder is the inscription 'Next Collection' in bas-relief. Directly below is the rectangular hooded aperture through which letters are inserted. Below the aperture is the door, hinged at the left and protected by a lip along the front of the cap. Above the door is a notice plate holder with details of collection days and times, and the box number (BT4 244) is given at the bottom of this notice. Below and to the right of the notice holder is the door lock, beneath which is a raised door handle. At the bottom of the door is a crown, below which is the cipher 'G VI R', and below which again is 'Post Office', all in bas-relief.

The pillar box is of the B-type, the smaller of two sizes produced from 1879 onwards. The royal cipher indicates it dates from the reign of King George VI. It represents the standard design of British pillar boxes that has remained largely unchanged since the introduction of the iconic red cylindrical form in 1879, with only minor modifications made to the height of the mail aperture and the design of royal ciphers.

Lion Foundry Co Ltd was established in 1880 and became known for large-scale casting and ironwork contracts in cities throughout the United Kingdom in the decades before the Second World War. The firm was later one of the first contracted to produce the distinctive K8 telephone kiosk from 1966 onwards.

The pillar box holds social and cultural significance as it represents a period when such boxes were the principal conduit through which people communicated with one another. By the early 20th century, pillar boxes had transformed the postal network throughout the United Kingdom, bringing postal facilities within reach of the public in large urban centres.