- published: 12 May 2014
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Coordinates: 51°32′42″N 0°00′50″W / 51.545°N 0.014°W / 51.545; -0.014
The E (Eastern) postcode area, also known as the London E postcode area, is the part of the London post town covering part of east London, England and also Sewardstone in Essex.
The current E postcode area was originally formed in 1866 as a merger of the E and NE areas created in 1858. In 1917, the postal districts were numbered alphabetically by their location; the districts usually cover a wider area than their names might suggest. As of 2004, the district names do not form part of the postal address. Due to high demand, sector 9 of the E1 postcode district was split and recoded in 1999 to create an E1W postcode district around Wapping; the rest of the district did not gain an additional character. Where districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs, E1 and E1W continue to be classed as one "district". The E postcode area contains two non-geographic postcode districts for high-volume business users, E77 and E98.
For the purposes of directing mail, the United Kingdom is divided by Royal Mail into postcode areas. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode. There are currently 121 postal areas in use in the UK and a further 3 often combined with these covering the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.
Each postcode area is further divided into post towns and postcode districts. There are on average 20 postcode districts to a postcode area. The London post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.
The single or pair of letters chosen for postcode areas are generally intended as a mnemonic for the places served. Postcode areas, post towns and postcode districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve much larger areas than the placenames with which they are associated. For example, within the PA postcode area the PA1 and PA78 postcode districts are 140 miles apart; and the eight postcode areas of the London post town cover only 40% of Greater London. The remainder of its area is covered by sections of twelve adjoining postcode areas: EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB.