1840
One prepaid price
Rowland Hill's idea: a fixed, prepaid charge for a letter, whatever the distance. The Penny Black made it practical.
The first stampStart
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE POST
One penny,
one country.
In 1840 a single prepaid penny could send a letter anywhere in the kingdom.
That idea gave us the Penny Black, the red pillar box and, eventually, a worldwide postal treaty. Today far fewer letters are sent and the delivery rules have changed. Here is how a letter by post works, past and present, with every fact sourced.
Plain English, with the sources linked.
1840one penny
Walk the timelineKeep in mind
- Prepay it
- Post it
- Send it anywhere
- Write it by hand
THE SHORT STORY
Cheap, simple, everywhere.
Three ideas from the 19th century
still shape how a letter travels.
1852
A box in the street
Roadside posting boxes began as a trial in the Channel Islands, then spread. Red came later, in 1874.
Walk the timeline
2025
Fewer letters, new rules
Letter volumes have more than halved since 2009-10, and Ofcom has relaxed the delivery rules to match.
See the numbersA QUICK TIMELINE
Pick a year,
follow the letter.
Choose a moment to see what changed for the humble letter. Dates come from The Postal Museum, the Universal Postal Union and Ofcom.
The bar shows how far along the story you are, from the first penny stamp to today's rules.
THE POST IN NUMBERS
Fewer letters,
looser targets.
Two sets of Ofcom figures show
how much the letter has changed.
16.1bn to 7.3bn
2009-10 compared with 2022-23
Ofcom counted about 16.1 billion addressed letter items in 2009-10 and 7.3 billion in 2022-23. The last of those years alone saw a fall of 9.5%.
UK ADDRESSED LETTERS
93% to 90%
Delivered the next working day
Ofcom's July 2025 decision lowered the First Class headline target to 90%, and the Second Class target from 98.5% to 95% within three working days.
FIRST CLASS TARGET · 2025
Targets are not guarantees. In 2022-23, Ofcom reported First Class performance of 73.7% against what was then a 93% target.
BEFORE YOU POST
Four small habits
for letters that arrive.
Step 1
Allow for the calendar
Second Class letters may now go out on alternate weekdays, and targets are not guarantees. If a date matters, post early.
Step 2
Write the address clearly
Use clear, legible handwriting and finish with the postcode on its own line, so the envelope can be read at a glance.
Step 3
Add a return address
A sender's address on the back gives a letter somewhere to go if it cannot be delivered.
Step 4
Keep a copy of what matters
For anything important, keep a copy or a photo of the letter, and consider a service that records delivery.
POST FACTS
Five things worth
knowing.
The penny came first
Uniform Penny Postage began on 10 January 1840, before any stamp existed. Rowland Hill had proposed a fixed, prepaid charge in 1837.
600,000 stamps a day
The first Penny Black was printed on 11 April 1840, and printers were soon producing 600,000 a day.
Postboxes started green
The first roadside posting boxes went up in the Channel Islands in 1852. Early boxes were green; red became the preferred colour in 1874.
A treaty for the whole world
On 9 October 1874, 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern. The union it created, now the Universal Postal Union, has 192 member countries and became a UN specialised agency in 1948.
Still billions of letters
Even after years of decline, Ofcom counted 7.3 billion addressed letter items delivered in the UK in 2022-23.
QUICK QUESTIONS
The post, answered.
Short answers to the questions people ask most.
When did the first postage stamp appear?
The Post Office launched the Penny Black in 1840. Uniform Penny Postage had started on 10 January 1840, and the first Penny Blacks were printed on 11 April 1840, soon at a rate of 600,000 a day.
Why are British postboxes red?
They were not always. The first roadside boxes, installed in the Channel Islands in 1852, and early pillar boxes were painted green. Red became the preferred colour in 1874.
Is Second Class post still delivered on Saturdays?
Ofcom decided in July 2025 to remove the requirement for Royal Mail to deliver Second Class letters six days a week, allowing delivery on alternate weekdays, Monday to Friday.
How quickly should a First Class letter arrive?
The headline target is next working day. After Ofcom’s 2025 review it is 90% of First Class mail, down from 93%. The Second Class target is 95% within three working days, down from 98.5%.
Are people still sending letters?
Yes, but far fewer. Ofcom reported about 16.1 billion addressed letters in 2009-10 and 7.3 billion in 2022-23, a fall of 9.5% in that last year alone.
Destination
Where the facts come from
- Gallery guide: the Penny Black, Penny Postage and pillar boxesThe Postal Museum
- Factsheet: founded 1874, 192 member countriesUniversal Postal Union
- 150 years of the UPU: the 1874 Treaty of BernUniversal Postal Union
- Annual monitoring update on the postal market, 2013-14Ofcom
- Post monitoring report, 2022-23Ofcom
- Review of the universal postal service: 2025 statementOfcom
Updated