National Postal Museum

National Postal Museum, philatelic museum in London that was founded in 1969 and shut down in 1998. The museum was established to showcase the United Kingdom’s philatelic developments and heritage. After the museum’s closure, its collection was briefly managed by the Royal Mail until it was placed under the stewardship of the Postal Heritage Trust in 2004, which in 2017 founded the Postal Museum to exhibit the collection.

Establishment of the museum and its collections

In 1838 the United Kingdom passed its first Public Record Office Act, which mandated the preservation of public records and documents. After the implementation of the act, the United Kingdom’s General Post Office (GPO) prioritized the archiving of its records and postal materials. In the 1890s the headquarters of the GPO, in London, set up a designated section on its premises to facilitate access to such archives.

In 1969 the National Postal Museum was inaugurated in London by Queen Elizabeth II. Most notable among the museum’s holdings was an assortment of 19th-century British stamps curated and later donated to the U.K.’s postmaster general by Reginald M. Phillips, a real estate entrepreneur, philanthropist, and philatelist. The collection included the world’s earliest first day cover (FDC; an envelope featuring a new stamp and postmark of the first day of issue) of the first adhesive stamp, called the Penny Black, issued in 1840. It also featured other philatelic and postal items from the 19th century, such as essays (design proofs of stamps), die proofs, and 1d (one penny) and 2d (two pence) postage envelopes and letter sheets, the first of their kind, designed by British painter William Mulready. The museum also housed the Post Office Collection, which included post office archival materials such as proof sheets, as well as the Berne Collection, comprising stamps issued by the countries that were members of the Universal Postal Union.

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Closure of the museum and collection relocation

The museum building was sold in 1998, after which the Royal Mail undertook the responsibility of the collection. In 2004 the safekeeping of the items was entrusted to the Postal Heritage Trust, which established the Postal Museum in 2017 as the new repository of the collection. The Postal Museum has extensive archival materials and a reference library. It also manages the Mail Rail building across from its premises (“Mail Rail” refers to the underground railway used to transport mail in London in the 20th and early 21st centuries). The Mail Rail building provides access to the defunct underground tunnels once used by the Mail Rail. A tour of the tunnels via a miniature train is offered.