London postal district
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The system of London postal districts predated the introduction of postcodes throughout the United Kingdom in the 1960s. The first system, of ten sectors identified by letters, was introduced in 1858; the numbered subdivisions date from 1917. The 1917 subdivisions remain important, because they form the first part of the two-part modern postcode (so N1 1AA is an address in the old N1 district), and because they continue to be used by Londoners to refer to their districts.
The London postal districts are organized by sectors, as follows, and then numbered alphabetically within their sectors.
- In central London, WC and EC (West Central and East Central)
- In the rest of London, N, NW, SW, SE, W and E.
- In some of outer London the districts derive from the location of the main sorting office, as with other UK postcodes.
The London postal districts were created solely to help sort and deliver mail and therefore rarely coincide with the boundaries of London boroughs (even the old, smaller metropolitan boroughs). The numbering system also appears arbitrary on the map: for example, NW1 is close to central London, but NW2 is a long way out. This is because, within each sector, they were numbered by first assigning the number 1 to the closest district to the centre, and then the rest of the number were assigned alphabetically by the name of the district they represented.
Matters were confused further as the postal districts created covered an area much larger than the London County Council boundaries of 1888. Places such as Leyton in Essex, Ealing in Middlesex, Penge in Kent and Barnes in Surrey were outside the County of London but in the London postal area. In 1965 the creation of Greater London caused London's boundary to expand to include these places officially, however the new boundary went far beyond the existing postal districts to include places that were not in the London postal area. Royal Mail did not follow this change and expand the postal area to match. It now has a policy of only changing postcodes if there is an operational advantage to them and have no plans to change the postcode system to match up with London's boundaries. Places in London's outer boroughs such as Enfield, Ilford, Beckenham and Croydon are therefore not covered by the postal districts. A notable exception is Sewardstone which is within the London postal area but outside the Greater London boundary in Essex.
It is common to use postal districts as placenames in London, particularly in the property market: a property may be described as being "in N11". They are a convenient shorthand for social status, such that a 'desirable' postcode may add significantly to the value of property, and property developers have pressed for the boundaries of postal districts to be altered so that new developments will sound as though they are in a richer area.
There are no London postal districts labelled "NE" or "S". These were in the initial division but were later removed as they were considered unnecessary. These two codes have since been applied to Newcastle Upon Tyne and Sheffield respectively.
All Head District Sorting Offices, except London South East, were connected by and had stations on the Post Office Underground Railway.
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List of London postal districts
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Map of London postal districts
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Greater London
The following postcodes are entirely or substantially within the Greater London boundary; the principal sorting offices are shown in italics:
- (Bromley) BR1 Bromley, BR2 Keston, BR3 Beckenham, BR4 West Wickham, BR5 St Mary Cray, BR6 Orpington, BR7 Chislehurst
- (Croydon) CR0 Croydon, CR2 South Croydon, CR4 Mitcham, CR5 Coulsdon, CR7 Thornton Heath, CR8 Purley, CR9 Croydon (large users)
- (Enfield) EN1 Enfield, EN2 Enfield Town, EN3 Ponders End, EN4 Cockfosters, EN5 Barnet
- (Harrow) HA0 Wembley, HA1 Harrow on the Hill, HA2 Harrow, HA3 Wealdstone, HA4 Ruislip, HA5 Pinner, HA6 Northwood, HA7 Stanmore, HA8 Edgware, HA9 Brent
- (Ilford) IG1 Ilford, IG2 Gants Hill, IG3 Seven Kings, IG4 Redbridge, IG5 Clayhall, IG6 Barkingside, IG7 Hainault, IG8 Woodford Green, IG11 Barking
- (Kingston upon Thames) KT1 Kingston, KT2 Norbiton, KT3 New Malden, KT4 Worcester Park, KT5 Berrylands, KT6 Surbiton, KT9 Chessington
- (Romford) RM1 Romford, RM2 Gidea Park, RM3 Harold Wood, RM4 Havering-atte-Bower, RM5 Collier Row, RM6 Chadwell Heath, RM7 Rush Green, RM8 Becontree Heath, RM9 Becontree, RM10 Dagenham, RM11 Emerson Park, RM12 Hornchurch, RM13 Rainham, RM14 Upminster
- (Twickenham) TW1 Twickenham, TW2 Whitton, TW3 Hounslow, TW4 Hounslow West, TW5 Heston, TW6 Heathrow, TW7 Isleworth, TW8 Brentford, TW9 Richmond, TW10 Ham, TW11 Teddington, TW12 Hampton, TW13 Feltham, TW14 Hatton
- (Uxbridge) UB1 Southall, UB2 Norwood Green, UB3 Hayes, UB4 Yeading, UB5 Northolt, UB6 Greenford, UB7 West Drayton, UB8 Uxbridge, UB10 Hillingdon
See also
External links
- London postcode map (http://www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation/images/HG_postcode.gif)
- Establishment of London postal districts -- mailing list discussion (http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/1997/12/msg00155.html)
- intoLondon.com (http://www.intolondon.com/) has a clickable map (http://www.intolondon.com/findby_map) with which you can zoom in and explore the different postcodes of London, including their landmarks and transport links.
