London postal district
The system of London postal districts in the inner part of London 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 outer part of inner London, N, NW, SW, SE, W and E.
- In outer London the disticts derive from the location of the main sorting office, as with other UK postcodes.
Note that London postal districts rarely coincide with the boundaries of London boroughs (even the old, smaller 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 are confused further by the fact that the postal districts considered to be "London" do not correspond to local government boundaries - neither the pre-1965 London County Council nor the Greater London Council/Greater London Authority boundaries are identical to the area covered by EC, WC, N, NW, E, W, SE & SW. As a result there are places within Greater London that don't have "London" postcodes (eg, Enfield).
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".
The postal districts are:
East Central
- EC1 East Central Head District, EC2, EC3, EC4.
West Central
- WC1 West Central Head District, WC2.
North
- N1 Northern Head District, N2 East Finchley, N3 Finchley Church End, N4 Finsbury Park, N5 Highbury, N6 Highgate, N7 Holloway, N8 Hornsey, N9 Lower Edmonton, N10 Muswell Hill, N11 New Southgate, N12 North Finchley, N13 Palmers Green, N14 Southgate, N15 South Tottenham, N16 Stoke Newington, N17 Tottenham, N18 Upper Edmonton, N19 Upper Holloway, N20 Whetstone, N21 Winchmore Hill, N22 Wood Green.
North West
- NW1 North Western Head District, NW2 Cricklewood, NW3 Hampstead, NW4 Hendon, NW5 Kentish Town, NW6 Kilburn, NW7 Mill Hill, NW8 St Johns Wood, NW9 The Hyde, NW10 Willesden, NW11 Golders Green.
East
- E1 Eastern Head District, E2 Bethnal Green, E3 Bow, E4 Chingford, E5 Clapton, E6 East Ham, E7 Forest Gate, E8 Hackney, E9 Homerton, E10 Leyton, E11 Leytonstone, E12 Manor Park, E13 Plaistow, E14 Poplar, E15 Stratford, E16 Victoria Dock & North Woolwich, E17 Walthamstow, E18(South)Woodford.
The soap opera EastEnders is set in the fictional London postal district of London E20.
West
- W1 Western Head District, W2 Paddington Head District, W3 Acton, W4 Chiswick, W5 Ealing, W6 Hammersmith, W7 Hanwell, W8 Kensington, W9 Maida Hill, W10 North Kensington, W11 Notting Hill, W12 Shepherds Bush, W13 West Ealing, W14 West Kensington.
South East
- SE1 South Eastern Head District, SE2 Abbey Wood, SE3 Blackheath, SE4 Brockley, SE5 Camberwell, SE6 Catford, SE7 Charlton, SE8 Deptford, SE9 Eltham, SE10 Greenwich, SE11 Kennington, SE12 Lee, SE13 Lewisham, SE14 New Cross, SE15 Peckham, SE16 Rotherhithe, SE17 Walworth, SE18 Woolwich, SE19 Norwood, SE20 Anerley, SE21 Dulwich, SE22 East Dulwich, SE23 Forest Hill, SE24 Herne Hill, SE25 South Norwood, SE26 Sydenham, SE27 West Norwood, SE28 Thamesmead, created 1970s from parts of SE2 & SE18.
South West
- SW1 South Western Head District, SW2 Brixton, SW3 Chelsea, SW4 Clapham, SW5 Earls Court, SW6 Fulham, SW7 (South) Kensington, SW8 South Lambeth, SW9 Stockwell, SW10 West Brompton, SW11 Battersea, SW12 Balham, SW13 Barnes, SW14 Mortlake, SW15 Putney, SW16 Streatham, SW17 Tooting, SW18 Wandsworth, SW19 Wimbledon, SW20 West Wimbledon
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.
Outer London
The outer London postal districts do not fully comply with the boundaries of Greater London. The following include areas approximately within the boundary of the M25 motorway:
- (Bromley) BR1, BR2, BR3, BR4, BR5, BR6, BR7, BR8
- (Croydon) CR0, CR2, CR3, CR4, CR5, CR6, CR7, CR8
- (Dartford) DA1, DA2, DA4, DA5, DA6, DA7, DA8, DA14, DA15, DA16, DA17, DA18,
- (Enfield) EN1, EN2, EN3, EN4, EN5, EN6, EN7, EN8, EN9
- (Harrow) HA0, HA1, HA2, HA3, HA4, HA5, HA6, HA7, HA8, HA9
- (Ilford) IG1, IG2, IG5, IG6, IG7, IG8 Woodford Green, IG9, IG10, IG11
- (Kingston upon Thames) KT1, KT2, KT3, KT4, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, KT9, KT10, KT11, KT12, KT13, KT17, KT18, KT19, KT20, KT21, KT22,
- (Romford) RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM6, RM7, RM8, RM9, RM10, RM11, RM12, RM13, RM14, RM15
- (Sutton) SM1, SM2, SM3, SM4, SM5, SM6, SM7
- (Royal Tunbridge Wells) TN14, TN15, TN16
- (Twickenham) TW1, TW2, TW3, TW4, TW5, TW6, TW7, TW8, TW9, TW10, TW11, TW12, TW13, TW14, TW15, TW16, TW17, TW19
- (Uxbridge) UB1, UB2, UB3, UB4, UB5, UB6, UB7, UB8, UB10, UB11
- (Watford) WD1, WD2, WD3, WD4, WD5, WD6,
