Template:Attached KML/WC postcode area
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London WC
Postcode area
WC is located in the United Kingdom
WC
WC
Coordinates: 51°31′05″N 0°07′19″W / 51.518°N 0.122°W / 51.518; -0.122
CountryUnited Kingdom
Postcode area
WC
Postcode area name
London WC
Post towns1
Postcode districts15
Postcode sectors46
Postcodes (live)2,610
Postcodes (total)7,424
Statistics as at May 2020[1]

The WC (Western Central) postcode area, also known as the London WC postcode area,[2] is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. The area covered is of high density development, and includes parts of the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington, plus a very small part of the City of London.

The WC1 and WC2 postcode districts are relatively recent, having been established in 1917. When the districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as for geographic reference and on street signs, their subdivisions - featuring letter suffixes - are often omitted.

Postal administration

WC1 and WC2 postcode districts are part of the London post town.[2] Until created in 1917 they comprised the WC postal district. There are no postally-recognised localities used in them.[2] No great recoding in this postcode area took place from 1990 to 2007.[3][4]

Post Offices in WC1 are at Grays Inn, Marchmont Street, Southampton Row, at High Holborn and nearby parallel New Oxford Street and in the other clustered at Aldwych and Strand.[5] The Western Central District Office was on New Oxford Street, a stop on the underground London Post Office Railway. Deliveries for the area come from Mount Pleasant Mail Centre, west of Farringdon Road.

List of postcode districts

The postcode districts are, with approximate coverage:

Postcode district Post town Coverage Local authority area(s)
WC1A LONDON New Oxford Street Camden
WC1B LONDON Bloomsbury, British Museum, Southampton Row Camden
WC1E LONDON Birkbeck College, University College London, SOAS Camden
WC1H LONDON St Pancras, UCL Institute of Education Camden
WC1N LONDON Russell Square, Great Ormond Street Camden
WC1R LONDON Gray's Inn Camden
WC1V LONDON High Holborn Camden, City of London
WC1X LONDON Kings Cross, Finsbury (west), Clerkenwell (north) Camden, Islington
WC2A LONDON Lincoln's Inn Fields, Royal Courts of Justice, Chancery Lane Camden, Westminster, City of London
WC2B LONDON Drury Lane, Kingsway, Aldwych Camden, Westminster
WC2E LONDON Covent Garden Westminster
WC2H LONDON Leicester Square, St. Giles Camden, Westminster
WC2N LONDON Charing Cross Westminster
WC2R LONDON Somerset House, Temple (west) Westminster

Boundaries

WC1[edit]

The WC1 postcode district (51°30′50″N 0°07′12″W / 51.514°N 0.120°W / 51.514; -0.120 (WC1)) is roughly bounded by Amwell Street, Rosebery Avenue and Gray's Inn Road to the east; New Oxford Street and High Holborn to the south (the boundary with WC2); Tottenham Court Road to the west; and Euston Road and Pentonville Road to the north, and approximately corresponds to the modern district of Bloomsbury, with parts of Holborn, King's Cross and St Pancras.[6] It includes Russell Square, Tavistock Square and Coram's Fields. It is mostly within the London Borough of Camden, although a small part towards the east is within the London Borough of Islington. It includes the British Museum and buildings owned by the federal University of London and its constituent colleges and institutes.

WC2[edit]

The WC2 postcode district (51°30′50″N 0°07′26″W / 51.514°N 0.124°W / 51.514; -0.124 (WC2)) is roughly bounded by Chancery Lane and Essex Street to the east, High Holborn and New Oxford Street to the north (the boundary with WC1), Wardour Street and Witcomb Street to the west and Northumberland Avenue and the River Thames to the south. It includes Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and the Aldwych.[7] It corresponds roughly to the former district of Strand. It is mostly within the City of Westminster with the northern section in the London Borough of Camden and some small areas in the east in the City of London. It includes Somerset House, colleges of the University of London like King's College London (Strand campus), and the National Portrait Gallery.

Map

KML file (edit • help)
Template:Attached KML/WC postcode area
KML is from Wikidata
WC postcode area map, showing postcode districts, post towns and neighbouring postcode areas.EC postcode areaN postcode areaNW postcode areaSE postcode areaSW postcode areaW postcode area
WC postcode area map, showing postcode districts in red and post towns in grey text, with links to nearby EC, N, NW, SE, SW and W postcode areas.

See also

References

  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. ^ a b c Royal Mail (2004). Address Management Guide (4 ed.). Royal Mail Group.
  3. ^ Royal Mail Address Management Unit (12 September 2006). "Royal Mail major recode historical information - 1990 to 1999" (DOC). Royal Mail Group. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  4. ^ Royal Mail Address Management Unit (18 April 2007). "Royal Mail major recode historical information – 2000 to March 2007" (PDF). Royal Mail Group. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  5. ^ "Post Office -". Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  6. ^ "WC1". The Postcodes Project. Museum of London. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  7. ^ "WC2". The Postcodes Project. Museum of London. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2010.

External links

Postcode areas in the United Kingdom and its dependencies
London postal region
Categories