The last surviving Royal Mail coach which was once attacked by a lion that had escaped from a travelling menagerie has gone on sale for an impressive £70,000.
The 200-year-old horse-drawn carriage harks back to the golden age of the Royal Mail when town clocks could be set by their arrival, crowds gathered along the route to see them speed by and operators were fined if they were just a minute late.
The red and black wooden wagon was known as 'Quicksilver' because it was the fastest coach in the country as it travelled its regular route from London to Falmouth in Cornwall.
But the coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816....
Last surviving Royal Mail horse-drawn coach which was once attacked by a runaway LION goes on sale for £70,000
A 200-year-old Royal Mail coach is going up for auction for the first time and is expected to sell for around £70,000
The coach - which was known as Quicksilver in its heyday because it was so swift - was once attacked by a lion
Animal had escaped from a travelling menagerie and managed to maul one of the horses before it was caught
The 1816 incident made Quicksilver famous and it was emblazoned on paintings and even Christmas cards
By Keiligh Baker for MailOnline
25 November 2015
Daily Mail
The last surviving Royal Mail coach which was once attacked by a lion that had escaped from a travelling menagerie has gone on sale for an impressive £70,000.
The 200-year-old horse-drawn carriage harks back to the golden age of the Royal Mail when town clocks could be set by their arrival, crowds gathered along the route to see them speed by and operators were fined if they were just a minute late.
The red and black wooden wagon was known as 'Quicksilver' because it was the fastest coach in the country as it travelled its regular route from London to Falmouth in Cornwall.
But the coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816.
A 200-year-old Royal Mail coach known as 'Quicksilver' (pictured) because it travelled so swiftly on its route between London and Falmouth in Cornwall is going up for auction for an impressive £70,000
The coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816
This extraordinary painting records the moment the escaped lion attacked the Royal Mail coach almost 200 years ago
As the coach rode through the hamlet of Winterslow, in Wiltshire, it was pounced on by the lion which had just bolted from a travelling menagerie on Salisbury Plain.
The lion mauled one of the horses, clamping its jaws around the animal's neck, while the petrified postal workers fled into a nearby pub and locked themselves in.
The attack only stopped when the menagerie's owner arrived and used his pet dog to distract the hungry lion.
Afterwards the postal workers climbed back on Quicksilver and resumed their night-time journey - and were only 45 minutes late delivering the mail.
As a result of its involvement in the dramatic incident the carriage was the subject of numerous paintings and even adorned the front of Christmas cards.
It has been housed in a transport museum in Yorkshire for many years but is now being sold at auction with a pre-sale estimate of between £50,000 to £70,000.
Inside the wagon (pictured). It has been housed in a transport museum in Yorkshire for years but is now being sold at auction
A painting of the Royal Mail coach travelling along Highgate Road in London, passing the Woodman Inn. It was painted around 1800
The Quicksilver Devonport-London Royal Mail stagecoach painted as it was about to travel with four new horses in the harnesses
Rob Hubbard, of auctioneers Bonhams, said: 'This is the only Royal Mail coach remaining. Most of them were scrapped after use or broken up for parts.
'It is largely in original condition and hasn't seen a lick of paint since it was first made. It has had some running repairs to it but it is largely preserved rather than conserved which makes it very attractive.
'It could still be used today and shown at events like the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show.'
The coaches were introduced to British roads in the late 17th century.
They were made by coachbuilders Vidler and leased to the Royal Mail who employed the postal workers and security guard on board.
The coaches were given the right of way over all other transport of the day and would travel overnight to reach towns across the country.
At the back of the coach there was a seat for the guard who was armed with a blunderbuss firearm to see off highwaymen while the coachman sat at the front on a roof seat.
Inside there was a seating compartment for four people in the upholstered body of the coach with room for two more on the front seat next to the coachman.
The sacks of mail were stored in the rear boot under the guard's feet.
Quicksilver was actually numbered '209' and the front panels display the initials of the 'GR' for George Rex - the King - in gold leaf.
The coaches were used until the 1830s when they were superseded by the railways and steam locomotive engines.
The sale takes place on December 10.
The coach was once attacked by a lion which had escaped from a travelling menagerie - the animal managed to maul one of the horses
The wagon's crest (pictured). Following the incident with the lion, 'Quicksilver' enjoyed some fame and was even emblazoned on cards
The Royal Mail dates back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a "Master of the Posts", a position that was renamed "Postmaster General" in 1710. It will be 500 years old next year
The vehicle the Royal Mail uses to deliver the post today
THE MAIL COACH: THE SERVICE WHICH REVOLUTIONISED THE DELIVERY OF POST IN BRITAIN
When a public postal service was first introduced in 1635, letters were carried between ‘posts’ by mounted post-boys and delivered to the local postmaster.
The postmaster would then take out the letters for his area and hand the rest to another post-boy to carry them on to the next ‘post’.
This was a slow process and the post-boys were an easy target for robbers, but the system remained unchanged for almost 150 years.
John Palmer, a theatre owner from Bath, had organised a rapid carriage service to transport actors and props between theatres and he believed that a similar scheme could improve the postal service.
In 1782, Palmer sold his theatre interests, and went to London to lobby The Post Office.
Despite resistance from senior Post Office staff, who believed the speed of the mail could not be improved, William Pitt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, accepted the idea.
An experimental mail coach journey, undertaken at Palmer’s expense, started from Bristol on 2 August 1784, at 4pm.
It reached London at 8am the next day, exactly on schedule. A journey that had taken up to 38 hours now took just 16, and the mail coach was born.
From 1784 the mail coach, which was also known as the post coach, was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries across the country.
The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside, while more passengers were allowed to sit outside with the driver.
The post was safely stored in a box at the back where a Royal Mail post office guard would stand with it.
Because it only stopped to deliver mail at its posts – and because it was not designed for the comfort of its passengers – the mail coach was faster than the stage coach.
The mail coach was replaced by trains during 1840s and 1850s as the railway network expanded and post began travelling via train.
Source: Postal Heritage
Read more: Last surviving Royal Mail coach goes on sale for £70,000* | Daily Mail Online
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The 200-year-old horse-drawn carriage harks back to the golden age of the Royal Mail when town clocks could be set by their arrival, crowds gathered along the route to see them speed by and operators were fined if they were just a minute late.
The red and black wooden wagon was known as 'Quicksilver' because it was the fastest coach in the country as it travelled its regular route from London to Falmouth in Cornwall.
But the coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816....
Last surviving Royal Mail horse-drawn coach which was once attacked by a runaway LION goes on sale for £70,000
A 200-year-old Royal Mail coach is going up for auction for the first time and is expected to sell for around £70,000
The coach - which was known as Quicksilver in its heyday because it was so swift - was once attacked by a lion
Animal had escaped from a travelling menagerie and managed to maul one of the horses before it was caught
The 1816 incident made Quicksilver famous and it was emblazoned on paintings and even Christmas cards
By Keiligh Baker for MailOnline
25 November 2015
Daily Mail
The last surviving Royal Mail coach which was once attacked by a lion that had escaped from a travelling menagerie has gone on sale for an impressive £70,000.
The 200-year-old horse-drawn carriage harks back to the golden age of the Royal Mail when town clocks could be set by their arrival, crowds gathered along the route to see them speed by and operators were fined if they were just a minute late.
The red and black wooden wagon was known as 'Quicksilver' because it was the fastest coach in the country as it travelled its regular route from London to Falmouth in Cornwall.
But the coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816.
A 200-year-old Royal Mail coach known as 'Quicksilver' (pictured) because it travelled so swiftly on its route between London and Falmouth in Cornwall is going up for auction for an impressive £70,000
The coach really made its mark during a little-known but extraordinary incident involving a runaway lion in the English countryside in 1816
This extraordinary painting records the moment the escaped lion attacked the Royal Mail coach almost 200 years ago
As the coach rode through the hamlet of Winterslow, in Wiltshire, it was pounced on by the lion which had just bolted from a travelling menagerie on Salisbury Plain.
The lion mauled one of the horses, clamping its jaws around the animal's neck, while the petrified postal workers fled into a nearby pub and locked themselves in.
The attack only stopped when the menagerie's owner arrived and used his pet dog to distract the hungry lion.
Afterwards the postal workers climbed back on Quicksilver and resumed their night-time journey - and were only 45 minutes late delivering the mail.
As a result of its involvement in the dramatic incident the carriage was the subject of numerous paintings and even adorned the front of Christmas cards.
It has been housed in a transport museum in Yorkshire for many years but is now being sold at auction with a pre-sale estimate of between £50,000 to £70,000.
Inside the wagon (pictured). It has been housed in a transport museum in Yorkshire for years but is now being sold at auction
A painting of the Royal Mail coach travelling along Highgate Road in London, passing the Woodman Inn. It was painted around 1800
The Quicksilver Devonport-London Royal Mail stagecoach painted as it was about to travel with four new horses in the harnesses
Rob Hubbard, of auctioneers Bonhams, said: 'This is the only Royal Mail coach remaining. Most of them were scrapped after use or broken up for parts.
'It is largely in original condition and hasn't seen a lick of paint since it was first made. It has had some running repairs to it but it is largely preserved rather than conserved which makes it very attractive.
'It could still be used today and shown at events like the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show.'
The coaches were introduced to British roads in the late 17th century.
They were made by coachbuilders Vidler and leased to the Royal Mail who employed the postal workers and security guard on board.
The coaches were given the right of way over all other transport of the day and would travel overnight to reach towns across the country.
At the back of the coach there was a seat for the guard who was armed with a blunderbuss firearm to see off highwaymen while the coachman sat at the front on a roof seat.
Inside there was a seating compartment for four people in the upholstered body of the coach with room for two more on the front seat next to the coachman.
The sacks of mail were stored in the rear boot under the guard's feet.
Quicksilver was actually numbered '209' and the front panels display the initials of the 'GR' for George Rex - the King - in gold leaf.
The coaches were used until the 1830s when they were superseded by the railways and steam locomotive engines.
The sale takes place on December 10.
The coach was once attacked by a lion which had escaped from a travelling menagerie - the animal managed to maul one of the horses
The wagon's crest (pictured). Following the incident with the lion, 'Quicksilver' enjoyed some fame and was even emblazoned on cards
The Royal Mail dates back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a "Master of the Posts", a position that was renamed "Postmaster General" in 1710. It will be 500 years old next year
The vehicle the Royal Mail uses to deliver the post today
THE MAIL COACH: THE SERVICE WHICH REVOLUTIONISED THE DELIVERY OF POST IN BRITAIN
When a public postal service was first introduced in 1635, letters were carried between ‘posts’ by mounted post-boys and delivered to the local postmaster.
The postmaster would then take out the letters for his area and hand the rest to another post-boy to carry them on to the next ‘post’.
This was a slow process and the post-boys were an easy target for robbers, but the system remained unchanged for almost 150 years.
John Palmer, a theatre owner from Bath, had organised a rapid carriage service to transport actors and props between theatres and he believed that a similar scheme could improve the postal service.
In 1782, Palmer sold his theatre interests, and went to London to lobby The Post Office.
Despite resistance from senior Post Office staff, who believed the speed of the mail could not be improved, William Pitt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, accepted the idea.
An experimental mail coach journey, undertaken at Palmer’s expense, started from Bristol on 2 August 1784, at 4pm.
It reached London at 8am the next day, exactly on schedule. A journey that had taken up to 38 hours now took just 16, and the mail coach was born.
From 1784 the mail coach, which was also known as the post coach, was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries across the country.
The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside, while more passengers were allowed to sit outside with the driver.
The post was safely stored in a box at the back where a Royal Mail post office guard would stand with it.
Because it only stopped to deliver mail at its posts – and because it was not designed for the comfort of its passengers – the mail coach was faster than the stage coach.
The mail coach was replaced by trains during 1840s and 1850s as the railway network expanded and post began travelling via train.
Source: Postal Heritage
Read more: Last surviving Royal Mail coach goes on sale for £70,000* | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook