Searching for postboxes

Go to Search Postboxes from the main navigation. You can search without signing in. Results are approved and imported postboxes only. The page shows how many matches were found and lets you open each postbox or view results on the map.

Type a place name, road, town, county, grid reference, postbox name, manufacturer, or other text in the main search box and press Search. PostboxMap looks for your words across several fields (name, location, town, county, notes, and more). For example, Bristol or High Street returns postboxes whose records mention those terms.

You can also enter a full UK postcode (e.g. SW1A 1AA) to find postboxes near that area, as well as postboxes whose text fields mention the postcode.

UK postboxes often have a registration number (reg no), such as SE1 18 or WR14 105. If you type a complete reg number in the main box, PostboxMap treats it as an exact reg lookup, not a postcode or town search. That returns the matching postbox (or a short list if several share the same number in edge cases).

Reg numbers use a numeric suffix (e.g. 18), which is different from a postcode inward code (letters and digits, e.g. 2AB). So SE1 18 finds the reg SE1 18, not every box in the SE1 postcode district.

You can use wildcards when you know part of a reg number:

• ? matches exactly one character (any letter or digit). Example: SE1 1? matches SE1 10, SE1 18, SE1 19, and so on. • * matches zero or more characters. Example: SE1* or SE1 * matches every reg starting with SE1 (with a space before the number part, as stored on PostboxMap).

Type the pattern in the main search box, or after reg: in structured search (see below). Wildcards only apply to registration numbers, not to town names or postcodes.

In the main search box you can combine filters using key:value tokens separated by spaces. Each token narrows the results; leftover words are still searched as free text.

Common tokens: • reign: – royal cypher / reign (aliases work, e.g. reign:EIIR, reign:ER, reign:GR, reign:VR) • form: or type: – postbox form (e.g. form:wall, form:pillar) • reg: – registration number, exact or with wildcards (e.g. reg:SE1 18, reg:SE1*) • subtype: or design: – design variant (e.g. subtype:Penfold) • manufacturer: – foundry or maker • finish: – finish colour • status: – in-service / box status where recorded • designation: – designation code if present

Example: reign:ER form:wall reg:SE1* finds Elizabeth II wall boxes whose reg number starts with SE1. Spaces inside reg: values are supported (e.g. reg:SE1 18 or reg:WR14 ?).

Below the main box you can narrow results further with Subtype (design variant) and Manufacturer. These work together with the main query. You can also arrive on Search with filters already set from a link (reign, form, finish, and similar query parameters in the URL).

Search is case-insensitive for reg patterns and most text. Very broad wildcards (e.g. a lone *) can return large result sets; add reign: or form: to keep lists manageable. If you need to browse by category without typing, use Postboxes (by reign, form, or town) or filters on the Map. For help identifying cyphers and forms before you search, see Royal cyphers and Postbox forms and types.