A Rare Postbox – Dunfermline Tours

With your new knowledge on postboxes from the previous stop, can you work out which monarch was on the throne when this postbox was installed?

Edward VIII.
It can be dated to one particular year – but do you know which one and why?

Red postbox with moniker of ER surmounted by a crown and has VIII between the letters — One from an estimated 57 depicting Edward VIII in the UK’s collection of 115,000 post-boxes

It’s 1936 – the only year Britain had three monarchs.

As a city (granted in 2022), Dunfermline has two rare references to the year that saw three kings. There is one on a building and this one, on the postbox, which show that King Edward VIII was on the throne long enough to be recognised in local architecture and social infrastructure before abdicating.

Edward’s coronation was scheduled for May 1937 but he abdicated in December 1936, instead choosing a life with his American sweetheart Wallis-Simpson.

Out of more than 115,000 postboxes in the UK, there are thought to be only 57 with Edward’s identifying mark – making this a rare find indeed!

Even more unusual is the building on Guildhall Street which has his initials in the stonework and represents a (former) public building, the Labour Exchange. It’s marked as Stop 10 on the map if you want to have a closer look. When you get back to the Mercat Cross, it is within 25 steps down the hill.