The first attempt at using postcodes was a scheme for London set up by Sir Rowland Hill in 1857. He split the capital into N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW plus EC (East Central) and WC (West Central). Later Anthony Trollope merged NE with E, and splitting S between SW and SE, leaving just eight codes. The 1930s saw postcodes introduced in larger towns and cities but the current system was introduced starting with Croydon.
There are 124 UK postcode areas, including the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Postcode areas, towns and districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve larger areas than the place names indicate.
The postcode area is the largest geographical unit and forms the initial one or two characters of the alphanumeric code, which are generally intended as a mnemonic, e.g. AB for Aberdeen. Areas are divided into districts with a number, with number 1 always used for the main sorting office. As a general rule, large post towns are are numbered from the centre out, with outlying districts having higher numbers. The area and district is followed by a space. Then there is a number to indicate sectors within districts, e.g. AB10 1. The following two letters identify streets or sides of a street, e.g. AB10 1FQ which is the postcode for Aberdeen Art Gallery in Schoolhill.
Area: SP = Salisbury Plain. Districts: SP1 (main sorting office), SP2, SP3, SP4 and SP5 are used for Salisbury. SP6 = Fordingbridge # SP7 = Shaftesbury # SP8 = Gillingham # SP9 = Tidworth # SP10 and SP11 = Andover.
Zeroes are high rather than low, so only used after numbers 1 to 9 have been used. The final two letters in a postcode are never CIKMOV.
Did you know?
- Some postcodes cross national boundaries.
- People can't get new build house insurance cover until a postcode is allocated.
- SE2 residents of Bexley Heath get charged London levels of insurance premiums.
- Because Kirkwall (KW) includes Orkney, mainland residents of this postcode end up paying higher delivery charges which are applied to the all KW addresses.
The full list of postcodes areas.
AB = Aberdeen # AL = St Albans # B = Birmingham # BA = Bath # BB = Blackburn # BD = Bradford # BH = Bournemouth # BL = Bolton # BN = Brighton # BR = Bromley # BS = Bristol # BT = Belfast # CA = Carlisle # CB = Cambridge # CF = Cardiff # CH = Chester # CM = Chelmsford # CO = Colchester # CR = Croydon # CT = Canterbury # CV = Coventry # CW = Crewe # DA = Dartford # DD = Dundee # DE = Derby # DG = Dumfries and Galloway # DH = Durham # DL = Darlington # DN = Doncaster # DT = Dorchester # DY = Dudley # E = London East # EC = London East Central # EH = Edinburgh # EN = Enfield # EX = Exeter # FK = Falkirk # FY = Blackpool / Fylde (Bolton already using BL) # G = Glasgow # GL = Gloucester # GU = Guildford # GY = Guernsey # HA = Harrow # HD = Huddersfield # HG = Harrogate # HP = Hemel Hempstead # HR = Hereford # HS = Outer Hebrides # HU = Hull # HX = Halifax # IG = Ilford # IM = Isle of Man # IP = Ipswich # IV = Inverness # JE = Jersey # KA = Kilmarnock (Kilmarnock and Ayr?) # KT = Kingston-upon-Thames # KW = Kirkwall # KY = Kirkcaldy # L = Liverpool # LA = Lancaster # LD = Llandrindod Wells # LE = Leicester # LL = Llandudno # LN = Lincoln # LS = Leeds # LU = Luton # M = Manchester # ME Rochester (Medway towns) # MK = Milton Keynes # ML = Motherwell # N = London North # NE = Newcastle # NG = Nottingham # NN = Northampton # NP = Newport # NR = Norwich # NW = London North West # OL = Oldham # OX = Oxford # PA = Paisley # PE = Peterborough # PH = Perth # PL = Plymouth # PO = Portsmouth # PR = Preston # RG = Reading # RH = Redhill # RM = Romford # S = Sheffield # SA = Swansea # SE = London South East # SG = Stevenage # SK = Stockport # SL = Slough # SN = Swindon # SO = Southampton # SP = Salisbury Plain # SR = Sunderland # SS = Southend-on-Sea # ST = Stoke-on-Trent # SU = Sutton (Sutton and Morden?) # SW = London South West # SY = Shrewsbury # TA = Taunton # TD = Galashiels # TF = Telford # TN = Tonbridge # TQ = Torquay # TR = Truro # TS = Cleveland # TW = Twickenham # UB = Southall (Uxbridge) # W = London West # WA = Warrington # WC = London West Central # WD = Watford # WF = Wakefield # WN = Wigan # WR = Worcester # WS = Walsall # WV = Wolverhampton # YO = York # ZE = Lerwick (Zetland) #
Also
BF = British Forces # XX = used by online retailers for returns by Royal Mail.
The British Postal Museum and Archive is at 15-20 Phoenix Place, London, WC1X 0DA.
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