Ludlow Wall Box - General Use

General Use

Ludlow boxes were introduced because, until 1910, sub-postmasters were responsible for the provision of secure posting facilities in their post offices. As the traditional cast iron boxes were heavy and expensive, James Ludlow & Son introduced a range of much cheaper boxes which they could supply at a competitive price to sub-postmasters. They were also to be seen in large country houses, public buildings and hotels.

James Ludlow manufactured the boxes in various styles and produced colour leaflets describing the boxes.

At their height, it is estimated that there were some 5,000–7,000 Ludlow boxes in use in the UK. As the network of post offices has contracted, many of these have been withdrawn from service and removed until today there are around 450 left.

  • Edward VII Ludlow small type at Bodiam sub-post office (SPO), Kent.

  • A large long-door George V Ludlow at Boxford ex-SPO, Suffolk.

  • Detail of the EVIIIR Ludlow at Bawdsey, Suffolk.

  • A Ludlow in a post office window at Coggeshall, Essex.

  • Boxted, Suffolk: small George V Ludlow with added CP and tablet.

  • A GVIR long-door box at former SPO in Clare, Suffolk.

  • Detail of the Cole maker's plate on the Victorian Ludlow at Winchester City SPO, Hampshire.

  • Queen Victoria Ludlow-style box by Eagle Range and Foundry in the Inkpen Postal Museum, Taunton, Somerset.

  • A later EIIR Ludlow at Chapel-en-le-Frith SPO, Derbyshire showing the cast Post Office plate.

  • Ludlow built into a shop window in Walsingham, Norfolk.

  • Ludlow EIIR plate, now disused, built into a garden wall at a country house in North Wales.

  • A VR Ludlow box at Matlock Green PO, Derbyshire, England.

  • An EVIIR Ludlow box at a sub- post office in Warwick, England.

  • A close-up of the enamel plate on a GR Ludlow box.

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