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EspañolPOSTAL COUNTIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The 'postal counties' of the United Kingdom, now known officially as the 'former postal counties', were subdivisions of the UK in routine use by the Royal Mail until 1996. The ''raison d'être'' of the postal county (as opposed to any other kind of county) was to aid the sorting of mail by enabling differentiation between like-sounding post towns. Since 1996 this has been done by using the outward code (first half) of a postcode instead.
In many places the postal counties did not match the counties of the United Kingdom. There were several reasons for this:
Firstly, many of the approximately 1,500 post towns straddled county boundaries and the postal addresses of all places in such areas included the postal county of the post town regardless of their actual location. Examples include:
Seaton Delaval residents unsuccessfully campaigned in 2004 to be removed from the former postal county of Tyne and Wear. [1]
Secondly, the London postal district, created in 1858, did not conform to any county boundaries and did not coincide with either the County of London in 1889 (which was somewhat smaller) or Greater London in 1965 (which was much bigger). Addresses in the London post town (an area of 241 square miles [2] or 40% of Greater London) did not include a county, however the rest of Greater London (60% of its area) formed parts of other post towns in the postal counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex and Hertfordshire.
For example, the London Borough of Barnet had sections in the London postal district (e.g. Golders Green) and in the Middlesex and Hertfordshire postal counties (e.g. Edgware and East Barnet); with the NW7 postcode district touching the Greater London boundary to divide the three sections. Anomalously Sewardstone, outside Greater London in the Epping Forest district of Essex, is included in the London postal district.
Thirdly, the Royal Mail adopted some, but not all, of the local government reforms of 1965 and 1974/1975. This caused postal counties in some areas to reflect boundary changes, whilst in other areas they did not.
Although the Post Office did not follow the changes of the London Government Act 1963 with respect to the outer London suburbs, it did reflect the move of Potters Bar from Middlesex to Hertfordshire. In contrast, Middlesex remained part of the postal address for Staines and Sunbury, which had transferred to Surrey. The 1960s saw an increase in the number of addresses the Post Office delivered to, but a decrease in the volume of mail sent which caused a significant drop in revenue and an increase in operational costs. [3] Furthermore, retaining the existing postal county boundaries was explained as largely due to cost reasons. ''The Times'' pointed out that this might cause confusion, noting that in future "children will no doubt wonder why their address should refer to a county in which they have never lived", but that "some people [...] want the name of Middlesex preserved because of its historical associations." [4]
In non-metropolitan areas of England, the postal counties broadly followed the changes of 1974 but there were differences such as Hereford and Worcester which was not used as a postal county because of the risk of confusion with the respective post towns.
The 1974 changes were also followed with regard to most metropolitan areas, so Sunderland was referred to by the Royal Mail as 'Sunderland, Tyne and Wear' not 'Sunderland, County Durham'. Greater Manchester however, was not adopted as a postal county. Humberside was, but the two parts of Humberside, being on opposite sides of the estuary of the River Humber, were counted as 'North Humberside' and 'South Humberside' respectively. The Post Office was considering its policy in January 1973, [5] and in November 1973 noted that "Greater Manchester" would be unlikely to be adopted because of confusion of the Manchester post town, but that Avon was likely to be introduced. [6]
In Wales, the 1974 changes were adopted by the Post Office, so that Rhuddlan was no longer postally in Flintshire, but in Clwyd. In Scotland, however, the postal counties were not changed. Thus Alva, despite being in the Central Region after 1975, was still postally in Clackmannanshire.
(listed with official abbreviations, if any)
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyll
Ayrshire
Banffshire
Berwickshire
Caithness
Clackmannanshire
Dumfriesshire
Dunbartonshire
East Lothian
Fife
Inverness-shire
Isle of Arran
Isle of Barra
Isle of Benbecula
Isle of Bute
Isle of Canna
Isle of Coll
Isle of Colonsay
Isle of Cumbrae
Isle of Eigg
Isle of Gigha
Isle of Harris
Isle of Iona
Isle of Islay
Isle of Jura
Isle of Lewis
Isle of Mull
Isle of North Uist
Isle of Rhum
Isle of Scalpay
Isle of Skye
Isle of South Uist
Isle of Tiree
Kincardineshire
Kinross-shire
Kirkcudbrightshire
Lanarkshire
Midlothian
Morayshire
Nairnshire
Peeblesshire
Perthshire
Renfrewshire
Ross-shire
Roxburghshire
Selkirkshire
Stirlingshire
Sutherland
West Lothian
Wigtownshire
The postal county was omitted for 110 of the larger towns and cities and places where the county name was derived from the post town. These post towns were:
ABERDEEN ABOYNE ANTRIM
ARMAGH AYR BANFF
BATH BEDFORD BELFAST
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED BIRMINGHAM BLACKBURN
BLACKPOOL BOLTON BOURNEMOUTH
BRIGHTON BRISTOL BROMLEY
BUCKINGHAM BUSHEY CAMBRIDGE
CARDIFF CARLISLE CHELMSFORD
CHESTER CLACKMANNAN COLCHESTER
COVENTRY CREWE CROYDON
DARTFORD DERBY DUMBARTON
DUMFRIES DUNDEE DURHAM
EDINBURGH ELLESMERE PORT EXETER
FALKIRK GLASGOW GLOUCESTER
GUERNSEY HEREFORD HERTFORD
HOUNSLOW HUDDERSFIELD HULL
INVERNESS IPSWICH ISLE OF MAN
ISLES OF SCILLY JERSEY KINROSS
KIRKCUDBRIGHT LANARK LANCASTER
LEEDS LEICESTER LINCOLN
LIVERPOOL LONDON LONDONDERRY
LUTON MANCHESTER MILTON KEYNES
NAIRN NESTON NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NORTHAMPTON NORWICH NOTTINGHAM
OLDHAM ORKNEY OXFORD
PEEBLES PERTH PETERBOROUGH
PLYMOUTH PORTSMOUTH PRESTON
READING REDHILL RENFREW
ROMFORD SALFORD SALISBURY
SELKIRK SHEFFIELD SHETLAND
SHREWSBURY SLOUGH SOUTHAMPTON
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA STAFFORD STIRLING
STOKE-ON-TRENT STRATHDON SUNDERLAND
SWANSEA SWINDON TORQUAY
TWICKENHAM WALSALL WARRINGTON
WARWICK WATFORD WOLVERHAMPTON
WORCESTER YORK
Elsewhere popular usage did not always follow the postal counties as prescribed by Royal Mail. In those places where the postal county differed from the traditional or administrative county, popular usage varied either because of ignorance or defiance.
The Royal Mail has ceased to use the postal counties as a means of sorting mail following the modernisation of their optical character recognition equipment in 1996. Instead, using postcode defined circulation, the outward code (first half) of the post code is used to differentiate between like-sounding post towns. The former postal county (as they are now known) for each post town as it was in 1996 is still held on record by the Royal Mail but where new post towns are created they will not be assigned to a former postal county. Where it is possible, and it is proven there is demand, Royal Mail will consider changes to their address data. Under their code however, changes to county data will not be considered. Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004)
In 1996 some non-metropolitan counties in England such as Avon and Humberside were abolished. This reform caused further changes to the locations in which the former postal counties (which the Royal Mail will not change) did not match up to the geographic counties. Hereford and Worcester had not been adopted as a postal county in 1974, so the reconstituted Herefordshire and Worcestershire broadly matched the former postal counties. Once the 1990s UK local government reform was complete, the areas in England that did not match the former postal counties became:
In both Scotland and Wales local government was also reorganised 1996, such that in some places counties reverted to the traditional names once again (e.g. Pembrokeshire) but in others the post-1974 names were retained (e.g. Powys, Highland). As in England, the formal postal counties are unchanged by Royal Mail.
Since the Royal Mail's change to postcode defined circulation a county no longer forms part of any postal address. As part of a 'flexible addressing policy' as long as the post town and postcode is included, users can also add a county, which will be ignored in the sorting process. Some forms continue to include a section for a county and this is sometimes compulsory.
A supplement to the Postcode Address File (which is the definitive source of correct postal addresses), the Alias File, identifies local, colloquial and 'postally-not-required' details in addresses that have been added by individuals and organisations. The county record part of the file holds 'traditional' (e.g. Gloucestershire), 'former postal' (e.g. Avon) and 'administrative' (e.g. South Gloucestershire) county data.
1. Villagers address their concerns
2. HMSO, ''The Inner London Letter Post'', (1980)
3. Corby, M., ''The postal business, 1969-79'', (1979)
4. G.P.O. To Keep Old Names. London Changes Too Costly.
5. Changes in local government units may cause some famous names to disappear
6. Post Office will ignore some new counties over addresses
★ Post town
★ Information from Royal Mail about PAF and Alias data
★ Some details of postal counties including Scotland
Boundaries
In many places the postal counties did not match the counties of the United Kingdom. There were several reasons for this:
Places part of a post town in another county
Firstly, many of the approximately 1,500 post towns straddled county boundaries and the postal addresses of all places in such areas included the postal county of the post town regardless of their actual location. Examples include:
| Geographic locality | Geographic county | Post town | Former postal county |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chenies | Buckinghamshire | RICKMANSWORTH | Hertfordshire |
| Coleshill and Water Orton | Warwickshire | BIRMINGHAM | West Midlands |
| Seaton Delaval | Northumberland | WHITLEY BAY | Tyne and Wear |
| Stokesley | North Yorkshire | MIDDLESBROUGH | Cleveland |
| Tatsfield | Surrey | WESTERHAM | Kent |
Seaton Delaval residents unsuccessfully campaigned in 2004 to be removed from the former postal county of Tyne and Wear. [1]
London
London postal district shown (in red) against the Greater London boundary
Secondly, the London postal district, created in 1858, did not conform to any county boundaries and did not coincide with either the County of London in 1889 (which was somewhat smaller) or Greater London in 1965 (which was much bigger). Addresses in the London post town (an area of 241 square miles [2] or 40% of Greater London) did not include a county, however the rest of Greater London (60% of its area) formed parts of other post towns in the postal counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex and Hertfordshire.
For example, the London Borough of Barnet had sections in the London postal district (e.g. Golders Green) and in the Middlesex and Hertfordshire postal counties (e.g. Edgware and East Barnet); with the NW7 postcode district touching the Greater London boundary to divide the three sections. Anomalously Sewardstone, outside Greater London in the Epping Forest district of Essex, is included in the London postal district.
Changes in 1965 and 1974
Thirdly, the Royal Mail adopted some, but not all, of the local government reforms of 1965 and 1974/1975. This caused postal counties in some areas to reflect boundary changes, whilst in other areas they did not.
Although the Post Office did not follow the changes of the London Government Act 1963 with respect to the outer London suburbs, it did reflect the move of Potters Bar from Middlesex to Hertfordshire. In contrast, Middlesex remained part of the postal address for Staines and Sunbury, which had transferred to Surrey. The 1960s saw an increase in the number of addresses the Post Office delivered to, but a decrease in the volume of mail sent which caused a significant drop in revenue and an increase in operational costs. [3] Furthermore, retaining the existing postal county boundaries was explained as largely due to cost reasons. ''The Times'' pointed out that this might cause confusion, noting that in future "children will no doubt wonder why their address should refer to a county in which they have never lived", but that "some people [...] want the name of Middlesex preserved because of its historical associations." [4]
In non-metropolitan areas of England, the postal counties broadly followed the changes of 1974 but there were differences such as Hereford and Worcester which was not used as a postal county because of the risk of confusion with the respective post towns.
The 1974 changes were also followed with regard to most metropolitan areas, so Sunderland was referred to by the Royal Mail as 'Sunderland, Tyne and Wear' not 'Sunderland, County Durham'. Greater Manchester however, was not adopted as a postal county. Humberside was, but the two parts of Humberside, being on opposite sides of the estuary of the River Humber, were counted as 'North Humberside' and 'South Humberside' respectively. The Post Office was considering its policy in January 1973, [5] and in November 1973 noted that "Greater Manchester" would be unlikely to be adopted because of confusion of the Manchester post town, but that Avon was likely to be introduced. [6]
In Wales, the 1974 changes were adopted by the Post Office, so that Rhuddlan was no longer postally in Flintshire, but in Clwyd. In Scotland, however, the postal counties were not changed. Thus Alva, despite being in the Central Region after 1975, was still postally in Clackmannanshire.
1974-1996 postal counties
(listed with official abbreviations, if any)
England
| Former postal county | Abbreviation | Coverage notes |
|---|---|---|
| Avon | ||
| Bedfordshire | Beds | |
| Berkshire | Berks | |
| Buckinghamshire | Bucks | |
| Cambridgeshire | Cambs | |
| Cheshire | Also covered part of Greater Manchester | |
| Cleveland | ||
| Cornwall | ||
| County Durham | ||
| Cumbria | ||
| Derbyshire | ||
| Devon | ||
| Dorset | ||
| East Sussex | E Sussex | |
| Essex | Also covered part of Greater London Stansted post town was an exclave in Hertfordshire | |
| Gloucestershire | Glos | |
| Hampshire | Hants | |
| Herefordshire | Covered part of Hereford and Worcester | |
| Hertfordshire | Herts | Also covered part of Greater London |
| Isle of Wight | ||
| Kent | Also covered part of Greater London | |
| Lancashire | Lancs | Also covered part of Greater Manchester |
| Leicestershire | Leics | |
| Lincolnshire | Lincs | |
| London | Corresponded to London post town | |
| Merseyside | ||
| Middlesex | Middx | Covered parts of Greater London and Surrey Enfield post town was a detached part, separated from the rest by London and Hertfordshire |
| Norfolk | ||
| North Humberside | N Humberside | Covered part of Humberside |
| North Yorkshire | N Yorkshire | |
| Northamptonshire | Northants | |
| Northumberland | Northd | |
| Nottinghamshire | Notts | |
| Oxfordshire | Oxon | |
| Shropshire | ||
| Somerset | ||
| South Humberside | S Humberside | Covered part of Humberside |
| South Yorkshire | S Yorkshire | |
| Staffordshire | Staffs | |
| Suffolk | ||
| Surrey | Also covered part of Greater London | |
| Tyne and Wear | Tyne & Wear | |
| Warwickshire | Warks | |
| West Midlands | W Midlands | |
| West Sussex | W Sussex | |
| West Yorkshire | W Yorkshire | |
| Wiltshire | Wilts | |
| Worcestershire | Worcs | Covered part of Hereford and Worcester |
Scotland
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyll
Ayrshire
Banffshire
Berwickshire
Caithness
Clackmannanshire
Dumfriesshire
Dunbartonshire
East Lothian
Fife
Inverness-shire
Isle of Arran
Isle of Barra
Isle of Benbecula
Isle of Bute
Isle of Canna
Isle of Coll
Isle of Colonsay
Isle of Cumbrae
Isle of Eigg
Isle of Gigha
Isle of Harris
Isle of Iona
Isle of Islay
Isle of Jura
Isle of Lewis
Isle of Mull
Isle of North Uist
Isle of Rhum
Isle of Scalpay
Isle of Skye
Isle of South Uist
Isle of Tiree
Kincardineshire
Kinross-shire
Kirkcudbrightshire
Lanarkshire
Midlothian
Morayshire
Nairnshire
Peeblesshire
Perthshire
Renfrewshire
Ross-shire
Roxburghshire
Selkirkshire
Stirlingshire
Sutherland
West Lothian
Wigtownshire
Wales
| Former postal county | Abbreviation | Coverage notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clwyd | ||
| Dyfed | ||
| Gwent | ||
| Gwynedd | ||
| Mid Glamorgan | M Glam | |
| South Glamorgan | S Glam | |
| Powys | ||
| West Glamorgan | W Glam |
Northern Ireland
| Former postal county | Abbreviation | Coverage notes |
|---|---|---|
| County Antrim | Co Antrim | |
| County Armagh | Co Armagh | |
| County Down | Co Down | |
| County Fermanagh | Co Fermanagh | |
| County Londonderry | Co Londonderry | |
| County Tyrone | Co Tyrone |
Usage
The postal county was omitted for 110 of the larger towns and cities and places where the county name was derived from the post town. These post towns were:
ABERDEEN ABOYNE ANTRIM
ARMAGH AYR BANFF
BATH BEDFORD BELFAST
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED BIRMINGHAM BLACKBURN
BLACKPOOL BOLTON BOURNEMOUTH
BRIGHTON BRISTOL BROMLEY
BUCKINGHAM BUSHEY CAMBRIDGE
CARDIFF CARLISLE CHELMSFORD
CHESTER CLACKMANNAN COLCHESTER
COVENTRY CREWE CROYDON
DARTFORD DERBY DUMBARTON
DUMFRIES DUNDEE DURHAM
EDINBURGH ELLESMERE PORT EXETER
FALKIRK GLASGOW GLOUCESTER
GUERNSEY HEREFORD HERTFORD
HOUNSLOW HUDDERSFIELD HULL
INVERNESS IPSWICH ISLE OF MAN
ISLES OF SCILLY JERSEY KINROSS
KIRKCUDBRIGHT LANARK LANCASTER
LEEDS LEICESTER LINCOLN
LIVERPOOL LONDON LONDONDERRY
LUTON MANCHESTER MILTON KEYNES
NAIRN NESTON NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NORTHAMPTON NORWICH NOTTINGHAM
OLDHAM ORKNEY OXFORD
PEEBLES PERTH PETERBOROUGH
PLYMOUTH PORTSMOUTH PRESTON
READING REDHILL RENFREW
ROMFORD SALFORD SALISBURY
SELKIRK SHEFFIELD SHETLAND
SHREWSBURY SLOUGH SOUTHAMPTON
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA STAFFORD STIRLING
STOKE-ON-TRENT STRATHDON SUNDERLAND
SWANSEA SWINDON TORQUAY
TWICKENHAM WALSALL WARRINGTON
WARWICK WATFORD WOLVERHAMPTON
WORCESTER YORK
Elsewhere popular usage did not always follow the postal counties as prescribed by Royal Mail. In those places where the postal county differed from the traditional or administrative county, popular usage varied either because of ignorance or defiance.
Modernisation
The Royal Mail has ceased to use the postal counties as a means of sorting mail following the modernisation of their optical character recognition equipment in 1996. Instead, using postcode defined circulation, the outward code (first half) of the post code is used to differentiate between like-sounding post towns. The former postal county (as they are now known) for each post town as it was in 1996 is still held on record by the Royal Mail but where new post towns are created they will not be assigned to a former postal county. Where it is possible, and it is proven there is demand, Royal Mail will consider changes to their address data. Under their code however, changes to county data will not be considered. Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004)
1990s UK local government reform
In 1996 some non-metropolitan counties in England such as Avon and Humberside were abolished. This reform caused further changes to the locations in which the former postal counties (which the Royal Mail will not change) did not match up to the geographic counties. Hereford and Worcester had not been adopted as a postal county in 1974, so the reconstituted Herefordshire and Worcestershire broadly matched the former postal counties. Once the 1990s UK local government reform was complete, the areas in England that did not match the former postal counties became:
| Geographic county | Former postal county | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol, Somerset (part), Gloucestershire (part) | Avon | 1,347 km |
| County Durham (part), North Yorkshire (part) | Cleveland | 583 km |
| East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire (part) | North Humberside, South Humberside | 3,517 km |
| Greater London (60% not in London postal district) | Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey | 947 km |
| Greater Manchester | Lancashire, Cheshire | 1,276 km |
| Surrey (Spelthorne) | Middlesex | 51 km |
In both Scotland and Wales local government was also reorganised 1996, such that in some places counties reverted to the traditional names once again (e.g. Pembrokeshire) but in others the post-1974 names were retained (e.g. Powys, Highland). As in England, the formal postal counties are unchanged by Royal Mail.
Flexible addressing policy
Since the Royal Mail's change to postcode defined circulation a county no longer forms part of any postal address. As part of a 'flexible addressing policy' as long as the post town and postcode is included, users can also add a county, which will be ignored in the sorting process. Some forms continue to include a section for a county and this is sometimes compulsory.
A supplement to the Postcode Address File (which is the definitive source of correct postal addresses), the Alias File, identifies local, colloquial and 'postally-not-required' details in addresses that have been added by individuals and organisations. The county record part of the file holds 'traditional' (e.g. Gloucestershire), 'former postal' (e.g. Avon) and 'administrative' (e.g. South Gloucestershire) county data.
References
1. Villagers address their concerns
2. HMSO, ''The Inner London Letter Post'', (1980)
3. Corby, M., ''The postal business, 1969-79'', (1979)
4. G.P.O. To Keep Old Names. London Changes Too Costly.
5. Changes in local government units may cause some famous names to disappear
6. Post Office will ignore some new counties over addresses
See also
★ Post town
External links
★ Information from Royal Mail about PAF and Alias data
★ Some details of postal counties including Scotland
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