when did postcodes come in to use in england?

Answer 1

Postcodes in the UK were introduced by Royal Mail over a 15-year period from 1959 to 1974. The first postcodes were introduced on a trial basis in Norwich in 1959 with the first three characters of the code (‘NOR’) representing the name of the city, and the last three characters of a particular street.

The second link in my sources is a fantastic 2-page PDF document on the history of the postcode in England, from the British Postal Museum and Archive

Answer 2

It's called a postcode and there will be several thousand different ones. A single 'postcode' only covers a few house numbers on any street.

Answer 3

Wikipedia Uk Postcodes

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
when did postcodes come in to use in england?

Answer 5

As far as I know, it was during the second world war. The women were left staffing the essential services and because they didn't know the areas like the regular workers, they brought in Postcodes to make it easier.

Answer 6

UK postal codes are known as postcodes.

UK postcodes are alphanumeric. These codes were introduced by the Royal Mail over a 15-year period from 1959 to 1974 — the full list is now available electronically from the Royal Mail as the Postcode Address File. They have been widely adopted not just for their original purpose of automating the sorting of mail but for many other purposes such as insurance premium calculations (see Postcode lottery) and as a way to describe United Kingdom locations to Route planning software.

However, as the format of the codes does not achieve its objective of primarily identifying the main sorting office and sub-office they have been supplemented by a newer system of five-digit codes called Mailsort. Mail users who can deliver mail to the post office sorted by Mailsort code receive discounts, whilst delivery by postcode provides no such incentive.

London postcodes

Main article: London postal district

In the London area postcodes are slightly different, being based on the old system of 163 London postal districts and predating by many years the introduction of postcodes in the 1960s:

* In central London, WC and EC (West Central and East Central)
* In the rest of London, N, NW, SW, SE, W and E.

The London postal districts rarely coincide with the boundaries of the London boroughs (even the former, smaller metropolitan boroughs). The numbering system appears arbitrary on the map: for example, NW1 is close to central London, but NW2 is a long way out. This is because (after starting with 1 for the area containing the main sorting office) they were numbered alphabetically by the name of the main sorting office.

The area covered by the London postal districts was somewhat larger than the County of London, and included parts of Kent, Essex, Surrey, Middlesex and Hertfordshire. In 1965 the creation of Greater London caused this situation to be reversed as the boundaries of Greater London went far beyond the existing London postal districts.

Those places not covered by the existing districts received postcodes as part of the national coding plan, so the postcode areas of "EN" Enfield, "KT" Kingston upon Thames, "HA" Harrow, "UB" Uxbridge", "TW" Twickenham, "SM" Sutton, "CR" Croydon, "DA" Dartford, "BR" Bromley, "RM" Romford and "IG" Ilford cross administrative boundaries and cover parts of neighbouring counties as well as parts of London.

A further complication is that in some of the most central London areas, a further graduation has been necessary to produce enough postcodes, giving codes like EC1A 1AA.

While most postcodes are allocated by administrative convenience, a few are deliberately chosen. For example in Westminster:

* SW1A 0AA - House of Commons
* SW1A 0PW - House of Lords, Palace of Westminster
* SW1A 1AA - Buckingham Palace
* SW1A 2AA - 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury
* SW1A 2AB - 11 Downing Street, Chancellor of the Exchequer
* SW1A 2HQ - HM Treasury

Answer 7

They were introduced over 15 years starting in 1959. See the link below or the Wikipedia entry.

http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/research/downloads/BPMA_Info_Sheet_Postcodes_web.pdf

Answer 8

Sad question - but it's Sunday so I'll let you off.