The W (Western and Paddington) postcode area, also known as the London W postcode area 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 of the

London postal district The London postal district is the area in England of to which mail addressed to the London post town is delivered. The General Post Office under the control of the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, Postmaster General directed Rowland Hil ...

. This area covers 35 postcode districts and around 18,554 live postcodes.

Postal administration

The Western district consists of the single original W1 postal district. 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. The mail centre for W1 is

London Central The London Central Bus Company is a bus operator brand under London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and primarily operates services in South London under contract to Tran ...

, 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 has 13 postcode districts (W2–14). 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 to the Eastern District Office, at

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

List of postcode districts

The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in ''italics'':Map of London district names and numbers
from the 1963 edition of Bartholomew's Reference Atlas of Greater London , - ! W1A , LONDON ,

PO box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

es & Admail codes in W1 , '' non-geographic'' , - ! W1B , LONDON , Portland Place, Regent Street ,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, - ! W1C , LONDON , Oxford Street (west) , Westminster , - ! W1D , LONDON ,

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

(south east); Chinatown, Soho Square , Westminster , - ! W1F , LONDON ,

(north west) , Westminster , - ! W1G , LONDON , Harley Street , Westminster , - ! W1H , LONDON ,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, Westminster , - ! W1J , LONDON ,

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

(south),

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

, Westminster , - ! W1K , LONDON ,

(north), Grosvenor Square , Westminster , - ! W1S , LONDON ,

(east), Hanover Square, Savile Row,

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, Westminster , - ! W1T , LONDON , Fitzrovia, Tottenham Court Road , Camden , - ! W1U , LONDON ,

, Westminster , - ! W1W , LONDON , East Marylebone, Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia , Westminster , - ! W2 , LONDON , ''Paddington head district:''

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, Bayswater, Hyde Park, Westbourne Green, Little Venice (part),

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

(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 Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

, Hammersmith and Fulham , - ! W4 , LONDON , ''Chiswick district:''

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, Gunnersbury,

Turnham Green Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Littl ...

, Acton Green, South Acton (part), Bedford Park , , Hounslow, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham , - ! W5 , LONDON , ''Ealing district:''

, South Ealing, Ealing Common, North Ealing, Northfields, (south and east), Pitshanger, Hanger Lane , , Ealing, Hounslow , - ! W6 , LONDON , ''Hammersmith district:''

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook (part), , Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow , - ! W7 , LONDON , ''Hanwell district:'' Hanwell, Boston Manor (part) , , Ealing , - ! W8 , LONDON , ''Kensington district:''

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

(part) , , Kensington and Chelsea , - ! W9 , LONDON , ''Maida Hill district:'' Maida Hill,

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

, Queen's Park (part), West Kilburn , , Westminster, Brent, Camden , - ! W10 , LONDON , ''Ladbroke Grove district:''

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...

, Kensal Town, Queen's Park (part), , , Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent , - ! W11 , LONDON , ''Notting Hill district:''

(part),

(part) , , Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham , - ! W12 , LONDON , ''Shepherds Bush district:'' Shepherd's Bush, White City,

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...

, East Acton (east) , , Hammersmith and Fulham , - ! W13 , LONDON , ''West Ealing district:'' West Ealing, Northfields (north and west) , , Ealing , - ! W14 , LONDON , ''North Fulham district:'' West Kensington, Kensington Olympia,

, , Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea

Boundaries

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 Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

. The boundaries do not coincide with the local authority areas. W1 is almost entirely in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

, with a small part in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

. W2 to W14 cover the northwestern part of the City of Westminster, the northern parts of the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the eastern parts of the London Boroughs of

and

, as well as very small parts of the London Boroughs of Brent and Camden.

In popular culture

The TV series '' W1A'' satirises the goings-on at the BBC's

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

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

References

External links

Royal Mail's Postcode Address FileA quick introduction to Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{London postcode areas Postcode areas covering London Media and communications in the City of Westminster Media and communications in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Media and communications in the London Borough of Ealing Media and communications in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Media and communications in the London Borough of Hounslow Media and communications in the London Borough of Camden