For the purposes of directing mail, the United Kingdom is divided by Royal Mail into a number of postcode areas. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode.[1]
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Subdivision
Each postcode area is further divided into post towns and postcode districts.[1] There are on average 20 postcode districts to a postcode area.[1] Within the London postal district the LONDON post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.[2]
Scope
The one or two letters chosen for the postcode areas are generally intended as a mnemonic for the places they serve.[1] The postcode areas, post towns and postcode districts do not follow parish, district, county or national boundaries and usually serve much larger areas than the placenames they are associated with. For example, within the PA postcode area the PA1 and PA78 postcode districts are 140 miles apart; and the eight postcode areas of the London post town cover only 40% of Greater London.[2] The remainder of its area is covered by sections of twelve adjoining postcode areas: EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB.[2]
United Kingdom postcode areas
Crown dependencies
The Crown dependencies (which are not part of the United Kingdom) did not introduce postcodes until later, but use a similar coding scheme. They are separate postal authorities.[1]
| Postcode area | Postcode area name |
|---|---|
| GY | Guernsey |
| Jersey | |
| IM | Isle of Man |
Defunct postcode areas
London NE and S
Glasgow
Glasgow, like London, was divided into compass districts: C, W, NW, N, E, SE, S, SW. When postcodes were introduced, these were mapped into the new G postcode: 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 became G20 and G40 respectively.
Dublin
Dublin was split into Dublin postal districts by the 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 postcode area D has not been re-used within the UK.
Norwich and Croydon
Norwich and Croydon were used for a postcode experiment in the late 1960s, which was replaced by the current system. The format was of the form NOR or CRO followed by two numbers and a letter, eg NOR 07A.
Non-geographic postcodes
GIR 0AA is a special postcode created for Girobank's Bootle address and does not use an ordinary postcode area.
Additionally the non-geographic postcode area BX has been introduced for addresses which do not have any locality as part of the address, allowing large organisations long-term flexibility as to where they receive their mail. This postcode area is used by Lloyds TSB (BX1 1LT) and the VAT Central Unit of HM Revenue and Customs (BX5 5AT).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Royal Mail - Address Management Guide, (2004)
- ^ a b c HMSO, The Inner London Letter Post, (1980)
- ^ "Quarterly Quality of Service Report to Postcomm – 2009/10 Quarter 1 Report". Royal Mail. 2009-08-20. pp. 4–8 (table 2). ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rmg/Quarterly_Quality_Service_Report.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
External links
- Office for National Statistics - Postal Geography
- Strowger Net: Postcodes of the UK
- Business Lists UK Postcode Map
- Natural History Museum - Maps of UK postcode areas
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