Introduced in the reign of Queen Victoria and of increasing rarity as a result of age and removal of wall mounted collection boxes. In 1857 as a means of introducing cheaper, smaller capacity boxes for smaller towns and more rural areas, wall-mounted boxes were introduced. Initially these were small rectangular boxes mounted either into existing walls or into purpose-built brick pillars. Once these began to prove successful larger varieties were cast, eventually up to three basic sizes. VR boxes are the rarest examples remaining in County Durham. (1)

This site was added to the Local List on 13th November 2023.