The British Postal Museum & Archive

The British Postal Museum & Archive
Our history through the post.

The Royal Mail Archive...

When the former National Postal Museum (NPM) closed to the public in 1998 it combined with the Post Office Archives to form the Heritage unit of Royal Mail. In 2004 this unified archive and museum service became an independent charitable trust. This new trust officially received a donation of the former NPM object collections, and took responsibility for managing The Royal Mail Archive (Public Records) on behalf of Royal Mail Group plc.

| EXIT | The British Postal Museum & Archive | The 'GPO' Shop |

The BPMA

The British Postal Museum & Archive is the public identity of this trust, a new organisation serving a long and fascinating history.

The BPMA is responsible for:

The Royal Mail Archive - which records four centuries of the British postal service
The British Postal Museum Store - full of amazing objects which bring to life the story of communication in Britain and throughout the world.

A Guide to the Archive

Is the Royal Mail Archive the same thing as Post Office archives?
Yes! In 1635 King Charles I made his own mail delivery service available to the public. In 1660 The General Post Office was established to run this 'royal mail' service. Our records chart the four centuries of development into the Royal Mail Group plc today.

The Archive contains records of The Post Office and Royal Mail from 1636 to the present day, including:

Working files, minutes and reports;
Staff records (great for family history);
Wonderful visual records such as maps, posters, artwork and photographs;
Stamps of Great Britain from the Penny Black onwards, and original stamp artwork;
British postal markings from 1661 to the present day.

What about telecommunications archives?

The Post Office passed control of telecommunications to British Telecom (BT) in 1981. Most of the historical object and archive collections of The Post Office relating to telecommunications were transferred to BT in the 1990s. For more information please visit www.bt.com/archives

Please note: Some archives which refer to Post Office telecommunications remain at The Royal Mail Archive, particularly high level Post Office minutes. If in doubt, please contact us before your visit.

Postal Heritage Leaflets

Postal History leaflets

Some earlier guides to Heritage Services and the National Postal Museum, predecessors of the new British Postal Museum & Archive.

The British Postal Museum & Archive SHOP

Click on the GPO logo to visit the British Postal Museum & Archive shop where you can buy GPO branded goods.

‘GPO’ is the 'new' merchandise range from the British Postal Museum and Archive. It draws on material held in the Archive of the General Post Office (now Royal Mail) and harks back to a day when the postman always knocked twice, and everything was in black and white.
It features products drawing on the posters, films, public service and graphic nature of the GPO as it was in the mid 1900s. Products are finished with old fashioned care and attention and bear the GPO branding and a brown paper and string look and feel.
The range was launched in September 2005 and the Business Development arm of the BPMA is often looking for retail and wholesale opportunities to sell the range. For product presentation enquiries and/or licensing opportunities please contact:

The BPMA Shop
Email:
Tel: +44 020 7239 5125