New Issue: Castles (GB)

It's been four weeks since Royal Mail's last stamps (100 Years since the Birth of Queen Elizabeth II) so surely there must be another issue soon? Of course there will be - from Thursday you will be able to buy this set of castles from your local post office. Actually, you probably won't, but you get the point. When I read the Royal Mail stamp calendar for 2026 I wasn't too excited about castles. That isn't because I'm not interested in castles because I really am and i have been to most of the castles shown on these stamps. However, there have been lots of other Royal Mail stamps showing castles and I knew they would look exactly like these - nice photography but no wow factor. And if anything deserves a wow factor it's our fantastic castles.

Before I take a look at these let's check out some of the historic stamps showing British castles.

First, there was the 1955 Castles Series I, which were high value definitives.

In 1988, Castles Series II was released. These were also high value definitives. For security reasons these were changed slightly in 1992 but the castles remained the same.

There was a 2005 miniature sheet marking the 50th anniversary of Castles Series I. But that is not all!

Caernarfon Castle was shown on these 1969 stamps for the investiture of the Prince of Wales.

Caernarfon Castle was also shown again on the 1978 British Architecture stamps. I'd argue that the Tower of London should count as a castle too.

Edinburgh Castle and Harlech Castle appeared in the 2011 UK: A to Z issue while Narrow Water Castle and Urquhart Castle made an appearance in the 2012 UK: A to Z issue.

The 2016 Landscape Gardens set included Highclere Castle and Alnwick Castle.

Windsor Castle had its own set in 2017.

And then there are the regional sets for Celebrating Scotland (2006) and Celebrating Northern Ireland (2008). Both of these contained castles - Edinburgh Castle and Carrickfergus Castle.

So, why do we need more castles? On the plus side, at least these are different castles and perhaps castles people haven't heard of. they're not just more pictures of Caernarfon, Windsor, Edinburgh and Carrickfergus. The photography is very nice even if it isn't inspiring. Castles from all the countries in the UK are shown. As a theme, I think it's fine but it has been done before.

There is also a miniature sheet, which is a completely different design.

This does show the castles at Caernarfon and Windsor while also adding Dover and Balmoral. This feels more inspired than the main set. Design Quality: I think these stamps don't look bad but the design isn't brilliant. It’s the sort of design Royal Mail always does now — just big photographs with some writing on top. The photos are nice and the castles themselves are really beautiful, but there isn’t much actual design going on. It doesn’t feel creative or exciting. Castles are amazing and dramatic and these stamps could have looked much more epic. They don’t really have a “wow” factor at all. 4/10

Theme/Subject Choice: Castles are definitely a good subject for stamps because Britain has loads of famous ones, but also… haven’t Royal Mail already done castles loads of times before? It feels a bit overused. I do like that they chose some castles that maybe aren’t as famous though, instead of just doing the obvious ones again. It’s nice seeing places like Raglan and Dunluce included. 6/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance: These castles are all really important parts of British history, so the stamps definitely have historical relevance. Castles tell us a lot about wars and how people lived hundreds of years ago. They’re also really important landmarks in the UK. Even though the designs are a bit plain, the castles themselves are culturally important and interesting. 8/10

Innovation and Creativity: There honestly isn’t much creativity here. It’s mostly just photography. The photos are very good and some of them look really dramatic, especially Raglan Castle with the mist around it, but the overall stamp designs feel really safe and predictable. I wish Royal Mail had tried something more artistic or imaginative instead of just using standard photos. The miniature sheet is slightly better. 3/10

Collectability: Lots of people love British castles. Castle themes are always popular with collectors and tourists as well. The photographs are high quality and the stamps feature places people might have visited on holiday. I can imagine people wanting to keep the full set together. 6/10

Personal Appeal: I’m a bit torn on these stamps. They’re exactly what I expected them to be, and I don’t personally find the designs very inspiring. But I do find castles inspiring. I’ve actually visited quite a few of the castles on these stamps, including Warwick, Stirling, Pembroke, Dunluce and Raglan. I also took part in an archaeological project at Bamburgh Castle, which makes that stamp feel more special to me. I really like that Royal Mail chose castles that aren’t always the most famous ones, because it makes the set feel a bit more interesting and personal. I wouldn't mind buying these to use on postcards when I visit these castles! They're also good for using on mail to post abroad to boast about how brilliant our castles are! 6/10 Overall score: 33/60