London SW postcode area | |
---|---|
Postcode area | SW |
Postcode area name | London SW |
Post towns | 1 |
Postcode districts | 29 |
Postcode sectors | 139 |
Postcodes (live) | 21,046 |
Postcodes (total) | 34,726 |
Statistics as at February 2012 |
Postcode district boundaries: Bing / Google
The SW (South Western and Battersea) postcode area, also known as the London SW postcode area, is a group of postcode districts covering part of southwest London, England. The area originates from the South Western (SW1–SW10) and Battersea (SW11–SW20) districts of the London post town.
The postcode area originated in 1857 as the SW district. In 1868 it gained some of the area of the abolished S district, with the rest going to SE. It was divided into numbered districts in 1917. The South Western district consists of the postcode districts SW1–SW10 and the Battersea district consists of the postcode districts SW11–SW20.
The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in italics:
SW1 was originally the South Western head district. As it is now of very high density development it has been divided into smaller postcode districts. Where districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs, the SW1 subdivisions continue to be classed as one 'district'. Within the SW1 postcode district there are several distinctive postcode units:
The South Western postcode area has nine boroughs including all of the London Borough of Wandsworth, the western portion of the London Borough of Lambeth, a very small part of Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, the southern sections of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the south-eastern portion of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the north-eastern area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the northern sections of the London Borough of Merton and London Borough of Croydon.