The E (Eastern) postcode area, also known as the London E postcode area,[2] is the part ♠ of the London post town covering much of east London, England. It borders the N postcode area to the west, ♠ both north of the tidal Thames. Since closure of the East London mail centre, its mail is sorted at Romford ♠ Mail Centre together with IG and RM postcode areas.

Postal administration [ edit ]

The current E postcode area was originally formed ♠ in 1866 as a merger of the E and NE areas, which had been created in 1858. In 1917, the ♠ postal districts were numbered alphabetically by their most important parish, chapelry, topographical or built environment feature.[3] As of 2004, the ♠ district names do not form part of the postal address.[2] High demand caused sector 9 of the E1 postcode district ♠ to be split and recoded in 1999 to create an E1W postcode district around Wapping,[4] but the rest of the ♠ district did not gain an additional character. When 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 commonly classed as one ♠ 'district'. The E postcode area contains two non-geographic postcode districts for high-volume business users, E77 and E98.[5]

The Eastern District Office ♠ is on Whitechapel Road and was the eastern terminus for the former London Post Office Railway, which has been mothballed ♠ since 2003. The railway ran 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) to the Paddington Head District Sorting Office.