The latest Royal Mail celebration of the United Kingdom's Castles introduces some that we haven't seen before, except perhaps on the Castles series of Smilers Sheets.
Information supplied:
Across the extent of the British Isles, our landscape is studded with castles, great and small. Some survive as houses or visitor attractions, others as ruins, earthworks or just shadows traced in the lines and names of streets in 21st-century cities and towns. Today, castles are objects of curiosity, but for centuries these buildings were great monuments at the heart of political, social and economic life.
This stamp set features photography of eight castles, from all four nations of the UK, dating from the Norman period onwards. The Miniature Sheet of four stamps celebrates four ‘Royal’ castles. These designs feature newly commissioned artworks by the British artist, Rob Ball.
Castles Stamps details
Technical details
Designed by Stand Up the 50 x 30 mm gummed stamps have been printed by Cartor Security Printers by lithography in four sheets of 60 (30 se-tenant pairs), perforated 14.
Dunluce Castle, photograph© Adam Burton/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of the Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities, Northern Ireland and Randal McDonnell, Earl of Antrim;
Dundrum Castle, photograph© scenicireland.com/Christopher Hill Photographic/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of the Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities, Northern Ireland;
Raglan Castle, photograph© Maciej Olszewski/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of Cadw;
Pembroke Castle, photograph© Sebastian Wasek/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of Pembroke Castle/Pembroke Castle Trust;
Urquhart Castle, photograph by Karol Kozlowski© robertharding/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of Historic Environment Scotland;
Stirling Castle, photograph © John Carroll Photography/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind pennission of Historic Environment Scotland;
Warwick Castle, photograph by John Lamb/Getty Images, featured with kind permission of Merlin Entertainments;
Bamburgh Castle, photograph© SuxxesPhoto/Alamy Stock Photo, featured with kind permission of Mr Francis Watson-Annstrong
Miniature Sheet
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| Miniature Sheet of four 1st class stamps showing Royal Castles - Caernarfon, WIndsor, Balmoreal and Dover. |
Technical details
Designed by Stand Up the 192 x 74 mm sheet printed by Cartor Security Printers by lithography contains four 60 x 30 mm gummed stamps using newly commissioned artwork by Rob Bell.
Collectors Sheet
A collectors sheet contains all 8 stamps from the set with accompanying labels which could of themselves have been the stamp designs. In fact the views of Raglan and Stirling used for the stamps are probably not as attractive as the labels. The collectors sheet is self-adhesive.
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| Self-adhesive Castles Collectors Sheet of 8 stamps and relevant labels. |
Products available
Set of 8 stamps, miniature sheet, presentation pack, first day covers (2), stamp cards, press sheet of 10 miniature sheets, and framed set, miniature sheet, and collectors sheet (£39.99 each).
First day cover filler card
Click on any image to see a larger version.
Fine looking stamps. A relief they don’t feature the Disney World castle given the direction of many of our stamps lately.
ReplyDeleteOdd that, having been assiduously even-handed in featuring two from each of the nations of the UK on the stand-alone stamps, Royal Mail apparently couldn't find a Northern Irish castle considered royal (or royal enough) for the miniature sheet - after all, Hillsborough Castle is the official residence of the monarch when visiting that part of their kingdom. (Admittedly, it is more of a country house than a fortified stronghold, but it has "Castle" in its name and that should surely have been good enough.)
ReplyDeleteI finally got round to buying some yesterday in Larkfield. The postmistress had to fetch them from the safe as nobody had sought them: as usual these days. Apart from here there seems to be no publicity any longer for new stamps not even a picture on the safety glass at the counter let alone an A board outside. I wonder how many special issue stamps are sold these days compared with - say - ten years ago; despite there being more issues than ever.
DeleteLars, I have noticed just the same. I tried getting the stamps in Hythe (Kent) on Wednesday. They still had the miniature sheets and the counter sheets with Urquhart/Stirling and Dunluce/Dundrum, but not the others. I suspect that when a new issue comes out they just pull out the first sheet and sell them, then get the next sheet out, so it becomes impossible to get a set if you leave it too late, though it's nice to know they are actually being used for postage! I eventually got the Warwick/Bamburgh and Raglan/Stirling pairs on Thursday from Battle in Sussex, where the postmistress got out a file held together with rubber bands and gave me corner pairs from two intact sheets - it looks as though I was the first person to have asked for them.
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