Plain antique brass letter box with its flap closed, centred on the middle rail of a soft grey-green painted cottage front door
Front door · Letter plate guide

An antique brass letter box, inside and out

How to size a letter plate to your door, and what to fit on the inside to stop the draught, all on a soft grey-green cottage door.

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The look
Fittings
Antique brass
Front door
Soft grey-green
Cottage
Soft red brickClay roof tileWorn stone
Hall
Warm whiteCoir mat

A small Victorian cottage in soft red brick, with a tiled timber porch, a worn stone step and pots of lavender. The four-panel door is painted a muted grey-green, and its antique brass fittings are kept simple: a plain letter box sized to sit neatly on the middle rail, a round centre knob and a cylinder pull. Inside, a matching flap covers the letter cut-out, so the hall stays warm and the post lands quietly on the mat.

Up close
Antique brass cylinder pull around a round brass rim cylinder with a key and leather tag, on a grey-green cottage door Victorian red-brick village cottage with white sash windows, an oak porch over a grey-green front door, a brick path through lavender, foxgloves and roses, and a picket gate Antique brass interior flap covering the letter opening on the inside of a white panelled door, an envelope coming through beneath it Antique brass postal knocker letter box, whose hinged flap doubles as a door knocker, on a grey-green painted door in low sun Cottage hallway with red and black quarry tiles, letters and a postcard on a coir mat below an antique brass interior flap, a waxed jacket on a peg rail and garden flowers in a jug Antique brass letter tidy with a brush draught excluder on the inside of a door, a newspaper and envelope dropping out of its open base
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Antique brass for a cottage door, inside and out

Soft grey-green four-panel cottage front door under a tiled timber porch, fitted with an antique brass letter box, round centre knob and cylinder pull 5 6 1
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Every antique brass letter box size, plus flaps and tidies

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Good to know

Choosing a letter plate that fits

Most common size254mm (10in) wide letter plates
Trend statusEvergreen; aged brass is the most popular brass finish
Inspired byVictorian village cottages
SuitsPainted four-panel and six-panel timber doors

Measure the rail first

A letter plate should sit on the door's middle rail with a little painted timber showing above and below it. Measure the height of that rail before choosing: the 79mm and 80mm high plates suit the narrower rails found on most cottage and terrace doors, while 102mm high plates need a deeper rail. A plate that overhangs the panel mouldings never looks right.

Width and the cut-out

If you are replacing an old plate, measure the hole in the door as well as the plate. The new plate must cover the existing cut-out with a margin all round. A 254mm plate is the usual choice; 305mm and 331mm plates take magazines and large envelopes more easily and suit wider doors.

The inside matters too

Without anything on the inside, a letter box is a hole in the door. An interior flap closes over the cut-out to stop the draught and anyone peering in. A tidy goes further: it is a deep hood that catches the post and drops it down, and the version with a brush draught excluder seals the gap even when the outside flap is pushed open.

Getting it right

Pair the sizes

Choose an inside cover a little wider than the outside plate so it hides the whole cut-out. The 280mm interior flap is made to sit behind a 254mm letter box.

Mind the height

Postal guidance recommends fitting a letter plate at least 700mm above the ground, which saves the postman from stooping and keeps the post off the step.

Fewer fittings with a postal knocker

On a narrow cottage door, a postal knocker letter box does two jobs at once: its heavy flap is the knocker. It saves space and avoids a crowded door.

Check the door thickness

Letter plates are fixed with bolts through the door. Measure the thickness of your door before ordering, especially on thick period doors, so the bolts are long enough.