Post box, internal post box

Double wooden internal post box with brass fittings previously located in the banking hall of Baring Brothers bank located at 8 Bishopsgate. The post box would have been wall mounted and is suited with the wood panelling and other integrated fixtures and fittings that made up the banking hall. The two brass letter flaps are marked 'closed' one side and 'letters' the other. Above the left hand flap is a white enamel sign marked in black 'for London and places abroad', the sign above the other flap being marked 'for country letters only'. Screwed to the wood panelling below are two brass plates engraved with the eight daily collection times.

Barings bank was founded in 1762 by Sir Frances Baring and, at the time of its collapse in 1995, was the oldest merchant bank in London. In 1806, the company moved its headquarters to 8 Bishopsgate, where it stayed until 1995. During this period the property underwent several expansions and refurbishments, and was completely rebuilt in 1981. This counter together with a number of other fittings and fixtures were donated to the Museum during a refurbishment of the main banking hall and offices in the early 1970s.