London postal district

The system of London postal districts in London, England 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 London postal districts are organized by sectors, as follows, and then numbered within their sectors.

• In central London, WC and EC (West Central and East Central)
• In outer London, N, NW, SW, SE, W and E.

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. Also, there are places within Greater London that don't have "London" postcodes (eg, Enfield) - because of the expansion of London over time.

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:

• London EC1[?]
• London EC2[?]
• London EC3[?]
• London EC4[?]

• London WC1[?]
• London WC2[?]

• London N1[?]
• London N2[?]
• London N3[?]
• London N4[?]
• London N5[?]
• London N6[?]
• London N7[?]
• London N8[?]
• London N9[?]
• London N10[?]
• London N11[?]
• London N12[?]
• London N13[?]
• London N14[?]
• London N15[?]
• London N16[?]
• London N17[?]
• London N18[?]
• London N19[?]
• London N20[?]
• London N21[?]
• London N22[?]

• London NW1[?]
• London NW2[?]
• London NW3[?]
• London NW4[?]
• London NW5[?]
• London NW6[?]
• London NW7[?]
• London NW8[?]
• London NW9[?]
• London NW10[?]
• London NW11[?]

• London E1[?]
• London E2[?]
• London E3[?]
• London E4[?]
• London E5[?]
• London E6[?]
• London E7[?]
• London E8[?]
• London E9[?]
• London E10[?]
• London E11[?]
• London E12[?]
• London E13[?]
• London E14[?]
• London E15[?]
• London E16[?]
• London E17[?]
• London E18[?]

• London W1[?]
• London W2[?]
• London W3[?]
• London W4[?]
• London W5[?]
• London W6[?]
• London W7[?]
• London W8[?]
• London W9[?]
• London W10[?]
• London W11[?]
• London W12[?]
• London W13[?]
• London W14[?]

• London SE1[?]
• London SE2[?]
• London SE3[?]
• London SE4[?]
• London SE5[?]
• London SE6[?]
• London SE7[?]
• London SE8[?]

• London SE9[?]
• London SE10[?]
• London SE11[?]
• London SE12[?]
• London SE13[?]
• London SE14[?]
• London SE15[?]
• London SE16[?]
• London SE17[?]
• London SE18[?]
• London SE19[?]
• London SE20[?]
• London SE21[?]
• London SE22[?]
• London SE23[?]
• London SE24[?]
• London SE25[?]
• London SE26[?]
• London SE27[?]
• London SE28[?]

• London SW1[?]
• London SW2[?]
• London SW3[?]
• London SW4[?]
• London SW5[?]
• London SW6[?]
• London SW7[?]
• London SW8[?]
• London SW9[?]
• London SW10[?]
• London SW11[?]
• London SW12[?]
• London SW13[?]
• London SW14[?]
• London SW15[?]
• London SW16[?]
• London SW17[?]
• London SW18[?]
• London SW19[?]
• London SW20[?]

The soap opera EastEnders is set in the fictional London postal district of London E20.

External links

• London postcodes and places (http://www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation/HG_postcode.htm)
• 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)