Britain’s Strangest Island Treasure Hunt? Letterboxing on Lundy

Last Updated on 8th June 2025 by Sophie Nadeau

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Letterboxing is a popular pastime on Lundy, an island just off the coast of north Devon where nature rules and wildlife is abundant.

A kind of treasure trail, these little boxes are hidden all over the island, and upon finding each one, you can use the unique stamp found within each box to stamp your own little booklet – making this not only a fun hobby but a great souvenir by which to remember Lundy.

Even though Lundy is just three miles in length and less than half a mile wide, there’s more to meet on the island than the rocky expanses of granite and covering of greenery than you see at first appearance.

Indeed, the island has been inhabited for thousands of years and traces of the past can be found around almost every corner. If you follow the letterbox trail, then you’ll get to see all sorts of traces of the past, including an old battery, a lighthouse which was once the tallest light in England, and even a 19th-century quarry.

What is Letterboxing?

The idea of letterboxing is to follow a set of printed clues to find treasure – well, close enough, a rubber stamp! A popular pastime in the UK (particularly on Dartmoor), these weather proof boxes are typically hidden under a pile of rubble or some other tucked away niche or crevice.

The stamp is found within a box, which also contains a small history of the area, a stamp pad, and a visitor’s book, where previous visitors have written their comments on finding the box.

Boxes can be metal, wooden, or plastic, and are hidden in off the beaten path places, meaning that you might end up visiting parts of the island you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

If you’re in doubt, then you can always look for a well worn path close to the clue area. Searching for an extra path just off the main path helped us on a fair few occasions. There are also extra letterbox clues in the Lundy Letterbox Book in the Marisco Tavern (also available to buy at the shop).

The letterboxes of Lundy

You can buy a letterbox pack in the shop. This is essentially a plastic folder with clues to find the letter boxes, a map, a stamp pad, a pen, and a notebook where you can write down your findings and stamp the pages.

These are available at Lundy General Stores for £12. A separate day visitor version of the pack is available which focuses on the south and east of the island.

There are currently 27 letterboxes of Lundy (plus the movable roaming ‘bunny stamp’ and a stamp on MS Oldenburg), and they are classed into three different abilities (upon completion of each ability level, you’ll be awarded with a certificate from the shop):

Green – the green are the easiest and you won’t have to stray far from the path to find them. If you are visiting Lundy as a day trip, then you can easily find all of the green boxes before having to leave the island again.
Yellow – these boxes are harder to find than the green ones and caution should be exercised when looking for them. You might have to climb a bit or go over rough terrain.
Red – these are hard to access and often require scrambling over rocks etc. If you manage to find all letterboxes, then your name goes in a book of achievement in the pub. One of the red letterboxes, The Rat, can be dangerous if not attempted correctly as you have to time your hunt with the tide.

Safety tips and environmental precautions

Sometimes letterbox locations are closed due to safety issues or nesting wildlife. Check with the shop to see if any of the boxes have moved location or are inaccessible during your visit.

You’ll need a compass for a number of the letterboxes, even the green ones. You can rent compasses at the shop but your mobile phone probably has one too! Even if you don’t have any phone signal on Lundy (EE seems to be the only network provider which has some coverage), your compass will still work.

Lundy is a steep island where nature has been preserved to the point that there are no barriers or fences, despite the steep nature of the island’s sides. As such, be sure to watch your footing at all times and keep a close eye on children.

Wear comfortable shoes that are suitable for the terrain- I had my hiking shoes on the whole weekend and was thankful for the extra grip they gave me. Bring plenty of water and snacks and check the weather forecast as wind and rain can descend quite quickly in the Bristol Channel.

A map is provided with your letterboxing pack, but I would also advise picking up the tourist information one (in the Lundy crossing timetable leaflet) as it has some of the names of Lundy landmarks which don’t appear on the Letterboxing one. You can also download an offline copy of the Google maps map.

Don’t let letterboxing take over your time on Lundy. There is a danger (aside from walking perilously close to cliff faces) that letterboxing can take over your time on the island and become something of an obsession.

It’s a fun hobby but do be sure to take in the scenery too! If you are on Lundy for just two days, like we were, you can do all of the boxes, but you’ll have to spend the entire time on your feet and see the whole island!