Lamp boxes are the smallest of the post box

Post box

A post box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a country's postal service...

es used by the Royal Mail

Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...

 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, by its counterparts in the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 and also by An Post

An Post

An Post is the State-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union...

 in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Their name derives from the fact that they were designed to be affixed to lamp posts

Street light

A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...

, although they may equally be found embedded in walls or mounted on poles.

Lamp boxes were introduced on an experimental basis in September 1896, being used in parts of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 as an inexpensive means of supplementing the existing Pillar box

Pillar box

A pillar box is a free-standing post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and in most former nations of the British Empire, members of the Commonwealth of Nations and British overseas territories, such as the Republic of Ireland, Australia, India and Gibraltar...

 network. By July 1897 these boxes had proved successful and from then on their use spread to rural areas where the greater expense of a Ludlow wall box

Ludlow wall box

In the UK, a Ludlow wall box is a post box where mail is deposited to be collected by the Royal Mail and forwarded to the addressee. They are built into stone pillars or the walls of buildings and are never found free-standing. This is because they are made largely from wood. They were nearly all...

 was not justified.

The original pattern of lamp box was produced from 1896 to circa 1935. During this time there were several variations of styles.

Victoria

• LB201 - There are few survivors of this type, "Letters" above the aperture.
• LB202 - "Letters Only" was added around July 1897.

It is interesting to note that although the lamp boxes were made by the same foundry as the Victorian ciphered pillar boxes, the ciphers differ slightly. The V and R have equal length arms with an oval loop however, no curl on the toe.

Edward VII

• LB203 - EviiR Open cipher
• LB204 - EviiR Closed cipher, small tablet
• LB205 - EviiR closed cipher large tablet

Again two slightly different ciphers were used to those on the Pillar boxes. With the introduction of the LB205 in 1905 came the larger tablet holder. Prior to this all Lamp boxes used the smaller style tab.

George V

• LB206- Believed to be cast until about 1927, the original GR Lamp box had a crown above a small GR cipher.
• LB207-LB210 - The crown was removed and a larger GR cipher was used. While the box is 1/2 inch wider the aperture remains the same at 4¾ inches by 1 inch. Subtle differences in the makers name, cipher and door length distinguish between the different types.
• LB211 GvR 1935 Pattern -In response to criticism of the narrow aperture of the original Lamp box a larger model was cast with the aperture enlarged to 5½ inches by 1 inch. This type of Lamp box was in use from 1935 to 1949 when it was replaced with the modern 1940's pattern.

George VI

• 1936 LB212 The revised 1935 Pattern but carrying the cipher of George VI. As far as is known, no boxes were cast with the cipher of Edward VIII
• 1940 LB213 Designed to be cheaper to make and of larger capacity, the 1940 Pattern was not actually put into production until 1949 due to restrictions on materials caused by World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  

Elizabeth II

• LB214 1952 LB214 was the first of around twenty variations in the earlier 1940 pattern box during the present reign.
• LB215 Allied Iron Founders
• LB216 Carron Company
  Carron Company
  The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron near Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. After initial problems, the company was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. The company prospered through its development and...
  
  
• LB216 Carron Company Stirlingshire
• LB217 Carron Company Stirlingshire "1977 pattern"

In 1977, the design was changed so that the cast front was fitted to the galvanised steel back by four riveted lugs rather than 6 internal screws. These are henceforward known as "1977 Pattern". For the first three years the round-profile Collection Plate holder was retained. However, from 1980, they were always supplied with a Universal Collection Plate Holder (UCPH).

• LB 218 Carron Stirlingshire (No "Company" in the name)
• LB 219 Lion Foundry Kirkintilloch
• LB 220 Carronade
• LB 221 Machan Scotland
• LB 222 Abbott Engineering

In 1994, the letters business of the Post Office was split from the retail business. The former retained the title Royal Mail Letters whilst the later became Post Office Counters Ltd. This necessitated changing the castings yet again so that in future they would read Royal Mail rather than Post Office.

• LB223 Machan Scotland

The first new Lamp Letter box design for some years was introduced by Royal Mail in 1999. Designated Type N, or "The Bantam" box, the ultra-modern design is made in traditional cast iron, with polished steel fittings. These are more truly "pedestal boxes" such as Type L and Type M, but due to their size, are considered by the Letter Box Study Group to be Lamp Letter boxes.

• LB224 Type N Bantam box, Machan Engineering Scotland

All of the above Elizabeth II boxes can also be found with the Scottish crown. The new Bantam box is also made with a bi-lingual Welsh/English branding.

Other meanings

The term "lamp box" is also used to refer to a computer running Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

, Apache

Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...

, MySQL

MySQL

MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...

 and PHP, and generally used as a web server

Web server

Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....

.