The NW (North Western) postcode area, also known as the London NW postcode area, is a group of 13 postcode districts covering around 13,895 live postcodes within part of northwest

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is the successor of the NW sector, originally created as part 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 ...

in 1856.

Postal administration

London postal arrangements were refined in 1917 when all its postcode districts (seven radial which are large and two innermost, much smaller) became publicly sub-divided; these were named after the location of the delivery office in each district. As London is one post town, district names are deprecated, in favour of the post town LONDON to be written/typed. Within each NW postcode district,

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 are allocated to a unique postcode sector, except for two districts which use all available sectors for ordinary addresses and therefore have their separate non-geographic districts: NW1W for PO boxes in NW1 and NW26 for PO boxes in NW10.

List of postcode districts

The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in ''italics'': , - ! NW1 , LONDON , ''North Western head district:''

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 ...

(part), Euston, Regent's Park, Baker Street,

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, Somers Town, Primrose Hill (part) and Lisson Grove (part) , Camden,

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, ...

, - ! style="background:#FFFFFF;", NW1W , style="background:#FFFFFF;", LONDON , style="background:#FFFFFF;", PO boxes in NW1 , style="background:#FFFFFF;", '' non-geographic'' , - ! NW2 , LONDON , ''Cricklewood district:'' Cricklewood, Dollis Hill, Childs Hill, Golders Green (part), Brent Cross (part), Willesden (north), Neasden (north) , Barnet, Brent, Camden , - ! NW3 , LONDON , ''Hampstead district:''

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, Belsize Park, Frognal, Childs Hill (east), South Hampstead (north),

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. The area was ...

(east), Primrose Hill (north), Chalk Farm (west), Gospel Oak , Camden, Barnet , - ! NW4 , LONDON , ''Hendon district:''

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, Brent Cross (part) , Barnet , - ! NW5 , LONDON , ''Kentish Town district:''

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

(part), Gospel Oak (part), Dartmouth Park, Chalk Farm (east), Tufnell Park (west) , Camden,

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, - ! NW6 , LONDON , ''Kilburn district:'' Kilburn, Brondesbury, West Hampstead, Queen's Park, Kensal Green (part), South Hampstead (south),

(west) , Brent, Camden, Westminster , - ! NW7 , LONDON , ''Mill Hill district:''

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross, close to the Hertfordshire border. It was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it b ...

Arkley Arkley is a village in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Barnet. It is located north-northwest of Charing Cross. It consists of a long village strung out between Barnet and Stirling Corner, and composed of the ancient ...

(part),

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

(part) , Barnet , - ! NW8 , LONDON , ''St John's Wood district:''

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

, Primrose Hill (south),

(north), Lisson Grove (north) , Westminster, Camden , - ! NW9 , LONDON , ''The Hyde district:'' The Hyde, Colindale, Kingsbury, West Hendon, Wembley Park (part), Queensbury (part) , Barnet, Brent, Harrow , - ! NW10 , LONDON , ''Willesden district:'' Willesden, Harlesden, Kensal Green, Brent Park, College Park, Stonebridge, North Acton (part), West Twyford, Neasden (south), Old Oak Common, Park Royal (north), Queen's Park (part) , Brent,

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 ...

, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea , - ! NW11 , LONDON , ''Golders Green district:'' Golders Green, Temple Fortune, Hampstead Garden Suburb (west),

(part), Brent Cross (part) , Barnet , - ! style="background:#FFFFFF;", NW26 , style="background:#FFFFFF;", LONDON , style="background:#FFFFFF;", PO boxes in NW10 , style="background:#FFFFFF;", ''non-geographic''

Boundaries

Postcode district NW1 is central to London, with the NW2–11 postcode districts radiating outwards to the northwest. The boundaries of the area and its numbered districts have changed over time and are the result of the working requirements of Royal Mail. They are not tied to those of the local authority areas served; consequently a locality name might describe varying areas. The postcode area contains large parts of London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent and Camden with small parts of 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 ...

and those of

, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow,

and Kensington & Chelsea. The NW7 district is a projection as far as Hertfordshire's near edge, which it mirrors or emulates briefly near Scratch Wood.

In popular culture

In 2008, the ska band Madness released a single called " NW5", named after the postal district of the same name. In 2012, the British author Zadie Smith released a book called '' NW'', named after the postal district of the same name, where the novel is set. The novel was adapted into a 2016 television film by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Map

The remainder of northwest

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

is covered by the HA, UB, part of the EN and a small section of WD.

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 London Borough of Brent Media and communications in the London Borough of Barnet Media and communications in the London Borough of Camden Media and communications in the City of Westminster