Photo by Bob Cox-Wrightson

Spiked Pillar Box

Pillar Box, Riverside

At the junction of Priory Road and Riverside is a rare ‘anonymous’ pillar box, made all the more unusual because of the spikes on the top.

Cylindrical pillar boxes were introduced in 1879, but it took 13 years to add the royal cypher and the words “Post Office”. There are a number of these ‘anonymous’ pillar boxes in Cambridge.

It is thought that this pillar box was moved from its original location near the gasworks – now Newmarket Road Tesco – with the spiky top remaining, which was originally added to stop people using it to climb over the gasworks wall.