LIST OF POSTCODE AREAS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
The UK postal system runs on a system of alphanumeric codes, or postcodes. Each postcode begins with a prefix consisting of one or two letters. In the past the 'postcode area' denoted the location of the main sorting office through which the post for that area was filtered before being distributed to delivery offices and then on to individual addresses. Royal Mail have consolidated some of the old sorting offices into single 'mail centres' in a bid to be more efficient. An example is the Jubilee Mail Centre in Hounslow which deals with mail for the KT, TW and GU postcode areas.
The London postal district is divided into sectors which are named after points on the compass.
Note that the postal districts and post towns do not follow district or county boundaries. The London postal districts cover a smaller area than the Greater London Authority (40%) and many places in Outer London are covered by parts of twelve adjoining postcode areas (EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB), some of which are entirely comprised in Greater London.
Postal counties are no longer required by Royal Mail and where a county is given it will be ignored as long as the post town and postcode are supplied.
:''See also List of postal districts in the United Kingdom for a list of all 2,900 districts.''
This is a list of UK postcode areas and their names. See List of post towns in the United Kingdom for the areas they cover.
There are at least two exceptions to this format:
★ the postcode for the formerly Post Office-owned Girobank is GIR 0AA.
★ the postcode for correctly addressed letters to Father Christmas is SAN TA1[2]
The Crown dependencies did not introduce postcodes until the early 1990s.
★ GY - Guernsey
★ JE - Jersey
★ IM - Isle of Man
Some of the British overseas territories have postcodes, valid for all local addresses. They were introduced between 2003 and 2005 to avoid the misdirection of mail to other destinations, and to help residents of those territories make online purchases from websites that required a postcode in order to validate the address.
★ ASCN 1ZZ - Ascension Island
★ BBND 1ZZ - British Indian Ocean Territory
★ BIQQ 1ZZ - British Antarctic Territory
★ FIQQ 1ZZ - Falkland Islands
★ PCRN 1ZZ - Pitcairn Islands
★ SIQQ 1ZZ - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
★ STHL 1ZZ - Saint Helena
★ TDCU 1ZZ - Tristan da Cunha
In the mid 19th Century the beginnings of the post code system was established. London was split into 10 areas, such as SW and WC which still form the current postcode areas. In the early 20th Century (1917 in London) these were again split into districts such as SW16 which form the present postcode. At the same time major cities were split into Postal Districts. e.g. Liverpool 6, which later became L6.
However several of these postcode areas did not last the test of time:
★ London
★
★ 'NE' was abolished in the 19th Century by merging E area with some parts removed from the London area altogether, several streets in East London still have NE suffixes on the street names. The NE postcode area was later recycled to Newcastle upon Tyne.
★
★ 'S' was abolished in the 19th Century by merging into the SE and SW postcode areas, the S postcode area later re-emerged in Sheffield.
★ Glasgow
★
★ Glasgow was unique amongst UK cities as it had compass postal districts similar to London due to its status as the Second City of the British Empire, i.e. C, W, NW, N, E, S, SW, SE. When postcodes were introduced these were mapped into the new 'G' postcode area thusly: C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. As NW and SE had never been subdivided they become G20 and G50 respectively.
★ Dublin
★
★ Dublin was split into Dublin postal districts by the (UK) Post Office in 1917 at the same time as other major cities in the UK like Liverpool and Manchester. After the creation of the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) the Irish government did not adopt postcodes, however the Dublin postal districts remain to this day and the correct form of address is Dublin 7 etc. The post code 'D' has not been re-used within the UK. The Irish government plans to introduce postcodes by 1 January 2008. It is not known whether numeric or alphanumeric postcodes will be used, however the need to integrate with the existing Dublin postal districts may necessitate alphanumeric postcodes, as was the case when the UK had to integrate London and other major city postal districts into postcodes in the 1960s.
★ AM - Ambridge, Borsetshire, (''The Archers'')
★ B87 - Leatherbridge
★ E20 - Walford, East London (''EastEnders'')
★ REDW 1ZZ - the city-sized interplanetary vessel ''Red Dwarf'' (from TV show ''Red Dwarf'')
★ WC Fields - in a Monty Python skit.
★ List of postcode districts in the United Kingdom
★ List of post towns in the United Kingdom
★ Postal counties of the United Kingdom
★ UK telephone area codes (STD codes)
★ UK topics
1. Royal Mail - ''Address Management Guide'' (2004)
2. [1], [2], [3], [4]
★ Postal Geography page from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
★ Map of UK postcode areas
★ Map of postal districts by region - can drill-down into district maps ''(Note: Does not work in Firefox browser.)''
The London postal district is divided into sectors which are named after points on the compass.
Note that the postal districts and post towns do not follow district or county boundaries. The London postal districts cover a smaller area than the Greater London Authority (40%) and many places in Outer London are covered by parts of twelve adjoining postcode areas (EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB), some of which are entirely comprised in Greater London.
Postal counties are no longer required by Royal Mail and where a county is given it will be ignored as long as the post town and postcode are supplied.
:''See also List of postal districts in the United Kingdom for a list of all 2,900 districts.''
| Contents |
| United Kingdom postcode areas |
| Special codes |
| Crown dependencies |
| Overseas territories |
| Defunct postcode areas |
| Fictional postcodes |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
United Kingdom postcode areas
This is a list of UK postcode areas and their names. See List of post towns in the United Kingdom for the areas they cover.
Special codes
There are at least two exceptions to this format:
★ the postcode for the formerly Post Office-owned Girobank is GIR 0AA.
★ the postcode for correctly addressed letters to Father Christmas is SAN TA1[2]
Crown dependencies
The Crown dependencies did not introduce postcodes until the early 1990s.
★ GY - Guernsey
★ JE - Jersey
★ IM - Isle of Man
Overseas territories
Some of the British overseas territories have postcodes, valid for all local addresses. They were introduced between 2003 and 2005 to avoid the misdirection of mail to other destinations, and to help residents of those territories make online purchases from websites that required a postcode in order to validate the address.
★ ASCN 1ZZ - Ascension Island
★ BBND 1ZZ - British Indian Ocean Territory
★ BIQQ 1ZZ - British Antarctic Territory
★ FIQQ 1ZZ - Falkland Islands
★ PCRN 1ZZ - Pitcairn Islands
★ SIQQ 1ZZ - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
★ STHL 1ZZ - Saint Helena
★ TDCU 1ZZ - Tristan da Cunha
Defunct postcode areas
In the mid 19th Century the beginnings of the post code system was established. London was split into 10 areas, such as SW and WC which still form the current postcode areas. In the early 20th Century (1917 in London) these were again split into districts such as SW16 which form the present postcode. At the same time major cities were split into Postal Districts. e.g. Liverpool 6, which later became L6.
However several of these postcode areas did not last the test of time:
★ London
★
★ 'NE' was abolished in the 19th Century by merging E area with some parts removed from the London area altogether, several streets in East London still have NE suffixes on the street names. The NE postcode area was later recycled to Newcastle upon Tyne.
★
★ 'S' was abolished in the 19th Century by merging into the SE and SW postcode areas, the S postcode area later re-emerged in Sheffield.
★ Glasgow
★
★ Glasgow was unique amongst UK cities as it had compass postal districts similar to London due to its status as the Second City of the British Empire, i.e. C, W, NW, N, E, S, SW, SE. When postcodes were introduced these were mapped into the new 'G' postcode area thusly: C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. As NW and SE had never been subdivided they become G20 and G50 respectively.
★ Dublin
★
★ Dublin was split into Dublin postal districts by the (UK) Post Office in 1917 at the same time as other major cities in the UK like Liverpool and Manchester. After the creation of the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) the Irish government did not adopt postcodes, however the Dublin postal districts remain to this day and the correct form of address is Dublin 7 etc. The post code 'D' has not been re-used within the UK. The Irish government plans to introduce postcodes by 1 January 2008. It is not known whether numeric or alphanumeric postcodes will be used, however the need to integrate with the existing Dublin postal districts may necessitate alphanumeric postcodes, as was the case when the UK had to integrate London and other major city postal districts into postcodes in the 1960s.
Fictional postcodes
★ AM - Ambridge, Borsetshire, (''The Archers'')
★ B87 - Leatherbridge
★ E20 - Walford, East London (''EastEnders'')
★ REDW 1ZZ - the city-sized interplanetary vessel ''Red Dwarf'' (from TV show ''Red Dwarf'')
★ WC Fields - in a Monty Python skit.
See also
★ List of postcode districts in the United Kingdom
★ List of post towns in the United Kingdom
★ Postal counties of the United Kingdom
★ UK telephone area codes (STD codes)
★ UK topics
References
1. Royal Mail - ''Address Management Guide'' (2004)
2. [1], [2], [3], [4]
External links
★ Postal Geography page from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
★ Map of UK postcode areas
★ Map of postal districts by region - can drill-down into district maps ''(Note: Does not work in Firefox browser.)''
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