Post Box, outside 124 Haypark Avenue, Belfast

A free-standing cast-iron pillar box erected between 1931 and 1936 on the pavement in Haypark Avenue, Belfast, close to the junction with Ailesbury Gardens. The box is of standard design and painted pillar box red throughout except for the base, which is black. It stands 5 feet high and measures 21 inches in diameter at the cap, 15½ inches at the shaft, and 17 inches at the base. The maker's name, 'CARRON COMPANY STIRLINGSHIRE', is recorded on the foundry plate at the base.

The post box features a shallow oversailing cap with a fluted edge. Below this is the door, hinged on the left and fitted with a raised cup handle on the right and a raised lock with keyhole above. At the top of the door is a hooded rectangular aperture for inserting letters. Above the aperture is a small holder containing a removable plate showing the day of the next collection, with 'NEXT COLLECTION' in raised letters beside it. Below the aperture is a notice plate holder containing collection times and the box number (BT7 554D), now heavily over-painted. Below this is a 'GR' cipher with a raised crown above and 'POST OFFICE' below.

This is a B-type pillar box from the reign of King George V (1911–1936), as indicated by the 'GR' royal cipher on the door. The cylindrical pillar box design was first introduced in Britain in 1879, though early examples lacked a royal cipher. The practice of inscribing royal ciphers began in 1887 with 'VR' (Victoria Regina). The Carron Company, which manufactured this box, was one of Scotland's most celebrated ironworking firms, founded in Falkirk in 1759. The pillar box appears for the first time on the Ordnance Survey town plan of 1838. Post boxes of this era held significant social importance as the principal means by which people communicated with one another.