{{Short description|Museum in London, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Use British English|date=August 2015}} {{infobox museum |name= The Postal Museum |logo=BPMA logo fairuse.png |image=Postal Museum (London) Air Mail Post Box.jpg |caption=An [[air mail]] postbox at the Postal Museum |established= {{Start date and age|2004}} |collection_size= |area= |location= [[Clerkenwell]]<br />[[London]], {{postcode|WC|1}}<br />United Kingdom |visitors= |director= |public_transit= {{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{rail-interchange|gb|Rail}} {{stn|Farringdon}}<br />{{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{lus|Russell Square}} |website= {{URL|http://www.postalmuseum.org/|postalmuseum.org}} }}
'''The Postal Museum''' (formerly the '''British Postal Museum & Archive''') is a [[postal museum]] run by the Postal Heritage Trust. It began in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive and opened in [[Central London]] as The Postal Museum on 28 July 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/postal-museums-opening-date-announced |title=The Postal Museum's Opening Date Announced |date=7 June 2017 |publisher=The Postal Museum |access-date=21 January 2018}}</ref>
==Sites==
The Postal Museum operates three sites: The museum at Phoenix Place, London near the [[Mount Pleasant sorting office]] in [[Clerkenwell]], a museum store in [[Loughton]], Essex and The Museum of the Post Office in the Community, located about the post office in [[Blists Hill Victorian Town]], Shropshire.<ref>{{cite news |title=Visit Us |url=https://www.postalmuseum.org/visit-us/ |access-date=10 July 2023 |agency=Postal Museum}}</ref>
==Origins== The [[Public Records Act 1838]] was the first step in organizing government [[archives]], including the civil service department known then as ‘the Post Office’. This represents the beginnings of what is now The Royal Mail Archive. By 1896 a report concerning the maintenance of Post Office records had been produced and the first archivist was appointed. The Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967 reinforced the need for the Post Office to keep, catalogue and make its archive records available.
[[File:Post Office vehicles display.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Post Office vehicles in the BPMA's collection.]] In 1966, the first '''National Postal Museum''' ('''NPM''') was established, in part due to The Phillips Collection of Victorian [[philately]] being donated to the nation by [[Reginald M. Phillips]]. The museum was opened by [[Queen Elizabeth II|the Queen]] on 19 February 1969, at [[King Edward Building]] near [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London. A collection of postal equipment, uniforms, vehicles and much more was developed over the years; far more than could be displayed in the small museum.
In 1998, the King Edward Building was sold, and the NPM closed. The collections were retained and the management of the museum and archive was combined. This was known as the Heritage unit of the Post Office (then renamed Consignia, then Royal Mail Group).
Royal Mail Group decided to transfer the work of this heritage unit to an independent charitable trust, in light of the changing mail market and its own shift from public service to competitive business. This 'Postal Heritage Trust' came into being in April 2004, and was branded as the '''British Postal Museum & Archive'''.
From 2004, the BPMA expanded its work into providing a programme of events, exhibitions, education and web resources.<ref name=BPMA>{{cite web |url=http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/page/about |title=British Postal Museum & Archive |publisher=British Postal Museum & Archive |access-date=11 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206104837/http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/page/about |archive-date=6 December 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==New Postal Museum== [[File:The Postal Museum at Spring Stampex 2016.JPG|thumbnail|The Postal Museum booth at Spring [[Stampex]] 2016 in [[Islington]], London]] In February 2016, the BPMA was renamed the Postal Museum,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/post-go-to-change/|title=Post & Go to change following The Postal Museum brand launch|work=The British Postal Museum & Archive}}</ref> and began building a new museum which opened in 2017 in Clerkenwell, London, near the [[Mount Pleasant Mail Centre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://postandparcel.info/71098/news/work-begins-on-londons-new-postal-museum/|title=Work begins on London's new Postal Museum}}</ref><ref name="indiaashok">{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/londons-vintage-mail-rail-open-public-part-new-postal-museum-2017-1542089|title=London's vintage Mail Rail to open to public as part of new Postal Museum in 2017|author=India Ashok|work=International Business Times UK}}</ref> The museum was expected to cost £26 million to build, and consists of two sections.<ref name="thenational.scot">{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.scot/news/new-postal-museum-set-to-revive-pains-of-scotland-football-teams-argentine-trip.13308|title=New Postal Museum set to revive pains of Scotland football team's Argentine trip}}</ref><ref name="lizzieedmonds">{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/attractions/new-postal-museum-is-a-scrapbook-of-british-history-a3172781.html|title=New Postal Museum is a scrapbook of British history|author=Lizzie Edmonds|date=4 February 2016|work=Evening Standard}}</ref> The Postal Museum has opened up to the public a {{convert|1|km|mi|order=flip}} stretch of track in London's [[Mail Rail]], which was the world's first driverless electric railway.<ref name="indiaashok"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stratford-herald.com/48183-firms-first-class-contract-at-london-postal-museum.html|title=Firm's first class contract at London postal museum}}</ref> In the museum section, anticipated attractions include a commemorative stamp that would have been used had [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] won the [[1978 FIFA World Cup]], telegrams from the night that the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'' sank, the childhood stamp album of [[Freddie Mercury]], and an intercepted first edition of ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' (banned in the United Kingdom until 1936).<ref name="thenational.scot"/><ref name="lizzieedmonds"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Freddie Mercury’s ‘priceless’ stamp collection to be celebrated |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/11/freddie-mercurys-priceless-stamp-collection-to-be-celebrated |access-date=9 July 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
==Relationship with Royal Mail== The Postal Museum is an independent charity but is strongly linked with [[Royal Mail]] Group. The former director of the Postal Museum is Adrian Steel.<ref>"Nerves of Steel" by Andrew Neish in ''[[British Philatelic Bulletin]]'', Vol. 51, No. 5, January 2014, pp. 144–147.</ref> The Postal Museum receives an annual payment from Royal Mail for managing the Royal Mail archive. Although the archive is part of the Postal Museum, because it is a public record, the ultimate responsibility for it lies with Royal Mail. The records have been given official [[designated status]] which means that they are recognised as nationally important, and are available to researchers to consult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/collections/|title=Collections|website=The Postal Museum}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Postal museum]] * [[Connected Earth]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Commons}} * {{OSM relation|7969097|London Postal Museum Mail Rail route}}
* {{Official website}}
{{Museums and galleries in London}} {{Authority control}} {{coord|51.5240|-0.1126|display=title}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Postal Museum}} [[Category:Museums established in 2004]] [[Category:History museums in London]] [[Category:Philatelic museums]] [[Category:Archives in the London Borough of Islington]] [[Category:Royal Mail]] [[Category:Media and communications in the London Borough of Islington]] [[Category:Museums in the London Borough of Islington]] [[Category:2004 establishments in England]] [[Category:Philately of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Clerkenwell]] [[Category:Postal museums|London]] [[Category:Physical museums with virtual catalogues and exhibits]]