W postcode area

Postcode district boundaries:
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London W
W is located in the United Kingdom
W
W
Coordinates: 51°30′40″N 0°11′46″W / 51.511°N 0.196°W / 51.511; -0.196
CountryUnited Kingdom
Postcode area
W
Postcode area name
London W
Post towns1
Postcode districts35
Postcode sectors217
Postcodes (live)18,554
Postcodes (total)39,954
Statistics as at May 2020[1]

The W (Western and Paddington) postcode area, also known as the London W postcode area[2] is a group of postcode districts covering part of central and part of West London, England. The area originates from the Western (W1) and Paddington (W2-14) districts[3] of the London postal district. This area covers 35 postcode districts and around 18,554 live postcodes.

Postal administration[edit]

The Western district[3] consists of the single original W1 postal district.[4] The area that it covers is high-density and so has been subdivided into a number of smaller postcode districts. When districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs, the W1 subdivisions continue to be classed as one 'district'. In June 2000, there was a recoding of the area, with the W1M, W1N, W1P, W1R, W1V, W1X and W1Y districts being replaced.[5]

The mail centre for W1 is London Central, and that for W2-14 is Greenford.

Deliveries for W1 (and for WC1 and WC2) came from the Western District Office on Rathbone Place until it was decommissioned. It was a stop on the former London Post Office Railway, which has been mothballed since 2003. The Western District Office was initially on Wimpole Street, which was also a stop on the London Post Office Railway.

The Paddington district[3] has 13 postcode districts (W2–14).[4] Other than W2, the districts are arranged alphabetically, run from W3 (Acton) to W14 (West Kensington) and radiate westwards. The Paddington Head District Sorting Office was the western terminus of the London Post Office Railway, which ran 6.5 miles (10.5 km) to the Eastern District Office, at Whitechapel.

List of postcode districts[edit]

The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in italics:[4][6]

Postcode district Post town Coverage Local authority area(s)
W1A LONDON PO boxes & Admail codes in W1[7] non-geographic
W1B LONDON Portland Place, Regent Street Westminster
W1C LONDON Oxford Street (west) Westminster
W1D LONDON Soho (south east); Chinatown, Soho Square Westminster
W1F LONDON Soho (north west) Westminster
W1G LONDON Harley Street Westminster
W1H LONDON Marylebone Westminster
W1J LONDON Mayfair (south), Piccadilly Westminster
W1K LONDON Mayfair (north), Grosvenor Square Westminster
W1S LONDON Mayfair (east), Hanover Square, Savile Row, Royal Academy Westminster
W1T LONDON Fitzrovia, Tottenham Court Road Camden
W1U LONDON Marylebone Westminster
W1W LONDON East Marylebone, Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia Westminster
W2 LONDON Paddington head district: Paddington, Bayswater, Hyde Park, Westbourne Green, Little Venice (part), Notting Hill (part) Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea
W3 LONDON Acton district: Acton, West Acton, North Acton (part), South Acton, East Acton (west), Park Royal (south), Hanger Hill Garden Estate, Gunnersbury Park Ealing, Hounslow, Hammersmith and Fulham
W4 LONDON Chiswick district: Chiswick, Gunnersbury, Turnham Green, Acton Green, South Acton (part), Bedford Park Hounslow, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham
W5 LONDON Ealing district: Ealing, South Ealing, Ealing Common, North Ealing, Northfields, (south and east), Pitshanger, Hanger Lane Ealing, Hounslow
W6 LONDON Hammersmith district: Fulham, Hammersmith, Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook (part) Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow
W7 LONDON Hanwell district: Hanwell, Boston Manor (part) Ealing
W8 LONDON Kensington district: Kensington, Holland Park (part) Kensington and Chelsea
W9 LONDON Maida Hill district: Maida Hill, Maida Vale, Queen's Park (part), West Kilburn Westminster, Brent, Camden
W10 LONDON Ladbroke Grove district: Ladbroke Grove, Kensal Town, Queen's Park (part), Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent
W11 LONDON Notting Hill district: Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove (part), Holland Park (part) Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham
W12 LONDON Shepherds Bush district: Shepherd's Bush, White City, Wormwood Scrubs, East Acton (east) Hammersmith and Fulham
W13 LONDON West Ealing district: West Ealing, Northfields (north and west) Ealing
W14 LONDON West Kensington district: West Kensington, Kensington Olympia, Holland Park Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea

Boundaries[edit]

Postcode districts W1 and W2 are central to London, and W3 to W14 are mostly further west. The boundaries of the area and its numbered districts have changed over time and are the result of the working requirements of the Royal Mail. The boundaries do not coincide with the local authority areas. W1 is almost entirely in the City of Westminster, with a small part in the London Borough of Camden. W2 to W14 cover the northwestern part of the City of Westminster, the northern parts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the eastern parts of the London Boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow, as well as very small parts of the London Boroughs of Brent and Camden.

In popular culture[edit]

The TV series W1A satirises the goings-on at the BBC's Broadcasting House in Portland Place, whose memorable postcode is W1A 1AA.

AJ Tracey released the 2020 track "West Ten", which refers to the Ladbroke Grove area.

Map[edit]

KML is from Wikidata
W postcode area map, showing postcode districts, post towns and neighbouring postcode areas.HA postcode areaN postcode areaNW postcode areaSE postcode areaSW postcode areaTW postcode areaUB postcode areaWC postcode area
W postcode area map, showing postcode districts in red and post towns in grey text, with links to nearby HA, NW, SW, TW, UB and WC postcode areas.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ONS Postcode Directory Version Notes" (ZIP). National Statistics Postcode Products. Office for National Statistics. May 2020. Table 2. Retrieved 19 June 2020. Coordinates from mean of unit postcode points, "Code-Point Open". OS OpenData. Ordnance Survey. February 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  2. ^ Royal Mail (2004). Address Management Guide (4 ed.). Royal Mail Group.
  3. ^ a b c Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1980). The Inner London Letter Post. HMSO. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Names of Streets and Places in the London Postal area". HMSO. 1930.
  5. ^ Royal Mail (18 April 2007). "Royal Mail major recode historical information – 2000 to March 2007" (PDF). Royal Mail Group. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  6. ^ Map of London district names and numbers, from the 1963 edition of Bartholomew's Reference Atlas of Greater London
  7. ^ "Non Geographic Codes" (PDF). Royal Mail Address Management Unit. July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.

External links[edit]