SO postcode area
Postcode district boundaries: Bing / Google
Southampton postcode area | |
---|---|
SO | |
Postcode area | SO |
Postcode area name | Southampton |
Post towns | 9 |
Postcode districts | 30 |
Postcode sectors | 179 |
Postcodes (live) | 18,213 |
Postcodes (total) | 38,710 |
Statistics as at February 2012[1] |
The SO postcode area, also known as the Southampton postcode area,[2] is a group of 23 postcode districts in England, which are subdivisions of nine post towns. These postcode districts cover south and central Hampshire, including the post towns of Southampton, Winchester, Alresford, Brockenhurst, Eastleigh, Lymington, Lyndhurst, Romsey and Stockbridge; and other towns, such as Totton, Hythe, Hedge End and Bishop's Waltham.
The area originally had both single and double-digit postcode districts.[3] From the inception of postcodes in Southampton, 'large users' within the SO1 and SO2 postcode areas (which broadly covered the area of the City of Southampton) were allocated SO9 postcodes.[4] In the early 1990s, a shortage of available postcodes occurred due to increased demand.[5] On 1 December 1993 Royal Mail took the step of dividing each of the existing single-digit districts, the numbers of the new subdivisions containing two digits rather than one. For example, the SO1 and SO2 districts were divided into SO14-19.[6] At the same time, ordinary 'geographical' postcodes replaced the SO9 codes. Whilst this created thousands more possible postcode combinations, it resulted in the unusual situation where the centre of the postcode area, Southampton, lacks a district numbered 1. The area is one of only a few in the country where this is the case.
Coverage
The approximate coverage of the postcode districts:
Map
See also
References
- ↑ "ONS Postcode Directory Version Notes" (ZIP). National Statistics Postcode Products. Office for National Statistics. February 2012. Table 2. Retrieved 21 April 2012. Coordinates from mean of unit postcode points, "Code-Point Open". OS OpenData. Ordnance Survey. February 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ↑ Royal Mail, Address Management Guide, (2004)
- ↑ Geographers' A-Z Map Co., Ltd, Street Atlas of Southampton, (1991)
- ↑ Kelly's Directory (1970) gives the address of the Head Post Office as 59 High Street, SO9 1AA.
- ↑ "GEO-REFER Learning Resources Repository: Postcodes". University of Southampton. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
- ↑ Geographers' A-Z Map Co., Ltd, Street Atlas of Southampton, (1991)