SE postcode area

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title: "SE postcode area" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["postcode-areas-covering-london", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-bexley", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-bromley", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-croydon", "media-and-communications-in-the-royal-borough-of-greenwich", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-lambeth", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-lewisham", "media-and-communications-in-the-london-borough-of-southwark"] description: "Postcode area within the United Kingdom" topic_path: "general/postcode-areas-covering-london" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SE_postcode_area" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Postcode area within the United Kingdom ::

The SE (South Eastern) postcode area covers a broad area of the south and south-east of the London, England post town from the Albert Embankment to West Heath and the nearest edges of Sidcup and Selhurst. It loosely corresponds to the boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich plus indicated parts of the boroughs of Croydon (north), Lambeth (east), Bexley (west) and Bromley (northwest).

Postal administration

The postcode area originated in 1857 as the SE district. In 1868 it gained some of the area of the short-lived S district, with the rest going to SW. It was divided into numbered districts in 1917, by giving the district closest to London that hosted the head office the suffix "1" and all others alphabetically based on a locally important parish, chapelry, topological or built environment feature administering or close to the local distribution office. SE28 is a late addition carved out of the existing districts SE2 and SE18 to reflect the building up of a new London district in what had been the meadows and marshes by the tidal Thames in the parish of Plumstead: Thamesmead.

Unlike SW, where a consecutive 50%, there ten, districts can more officially be traced into two alphabetical groups excluding SW1, SE has always technically followed the norm in that SE1 is the only head district. However SE19 was drawn up to serve the key distribution office serving Norwood after a complete alphabetical series so that those surrounding it and SE21 (Dulwich): SE20 and SE22 to SE27 are strictly alphabetical afresh (Anerley to West Norwood) but it has never technically been a "head district". The postcode area is part of the London post town. There are no dependent localities used in the postcode area.

List of postcode districts

The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in italics:

|- ! SE1 | London | South Eastern head district: Bankside, Borough, South Bank, Lambeth (part), Southwark, Elephant and Castle, Bermondsey, Vauxhall (part), Peckham (part)

Lambeth, Southwark
! style="background:#FFFFFF;"
style="background:#FFFFFF;"
style="background:#FFFFFF;"
style="background:#FFFFFF;"
-
! SE2
London
Abbey Wood district: Abbey Wood, West Heath, Belvedere (part), Crossness, Thamesmead (part), Plumstead (part), Bostall Heath and Woods
Greenwich, Bexley
-
! SE3
London
Blackheath district: Blackheath, Kidbrooke, Westcombe Park
Greenwich, Lewisham
-
! SE4
London
Brockley district: Brockley, Crofton Park, Ladywell, Telegraph Hill
Lewisham
-
! SE5
London
Camberwell district: Camberwell, Denmark Hill, Peckham
Lambeth, Southwark
-
! SE6
London
Catford district: Catford, Bellingham, Hither Green (part), Rushey Green
Lewisham
-
! SE7
London
Charlton district: Charlton
Greenwich
-
! SE8
London
Deptford district: Deptford, Evelyn, Rotherhithe (part), St John's
Lewisham, Greenwich, Southwark
-
! SE9
London
Eltham district: Eltham, Mottingham, New Eltham, Well Hall, Avery Hill (part), Falconwood (part), Sidcup (part), Chinbrook (part), Longlands (part) Kidbrooke (part), Shooter's Hill (part)
Greenwich, Bromley, Bexley, Lewisham
-
! SE10
London
Greenwich district: Greenwich, Maze Hill, Greenwich Peninsula
Greenwich, Lewisham
-
! SE11
London
Kennington district: Kennington, Lambeth (part), Vauxhall (part), Oval (part)
Lambeth, Southwark
-
! SE12
London
Lee district: Lee, Mottingham, Grove Park, Chinbrook, Hither Green (part), Eltham (part), Horn Park
Lewisham, Greenwich, Bromley
-
! SE13
London
Lewisham district: Lewisham, Hither Green, Ladywell
Lewisham, Greenwich
-
! SE14
London
New Cross district: New Cross, Telegraph Hill
Lewisham
-
! SE15
London
Peckham district: Peckham, Nunhead, South Bermondsey (part)
Southwark, Lewisham
-
! SE16
London
Rotherhithe district: Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, Surrey Quays, South Bermondsey (part) New Cross Gate, Lewisham,
Southwark, Lewisham
-
! SE17
London
Walworth district: Walworth, Elephant and Castle (Part), Kennington (part), Newington
Southwark
-
! SE18
London
Woolwich district: Woolwich, Royal Arsenal, Plumstead (part), East Wickham (part), Shooter's Hill
Greenwich, Bexley
-
! SE19
London
Norwood district: Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace, Gipsy Hill (part)
Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark, Bromley
-
! SE20
London
Anerley district: Anerley, Crystal Palace (part), Penge, Beckenham (part)
Bromley
-
! SE21
London
Dulwich district: Dulwich, Dulwich Village, Tulse Hill (part), West Dulwich
Southwark, Lambeth
-
! SE22
London
East Dulwich district: East Dulwich, Peckham Rye
Southwark
-
! SE23
London
Forest Hill district: Forest Hill, Honor Oak, Crofton Park (part), Perry Vale
Lewisham, Southwark
-
! SE24
London
Herne Hill district: Herne Hill, Tulse Hill (part), West Dulwich (part)
Lambeth, Southwark
-
! SE25
London
South Norwood district: South Norwood, Selhurst (part), Thornton Heath (part), Woodside (part)
Croydon
-
! SE26
London
Sydenham district: Sydenham, Crystal Palace (part)
Lewisham, Bromley, Southwark
-
! SE27
London
West Norwood district: West Norwood, Gipsy Hill (part), Tulse Hill (part)
Lambeth
-
! SE28
London
Thamesmead district: Thamesmead
Greenwich, Bexley
}

Boundaries

SE1 has a very long tidal Thames frontage and is in Central London as is SE11, named after Kennington, close to Westminster. SE2–SE18 are spread across the north and east of the postcode area; enquiring into their naming system explains how SE2, SE7, SE8, SE10, SE16 and SE18 also front the river. Postcode districts SE19–SE27 form a group in the southwest. The later addition, SE28, is in the northeast corner of the first group. The postcode area maps roughly to the combined area of the London Borough of Southwark, London Borough of Lewisham and Royal Borough of Greenwich. the eastern part of the London Borough of Lambeth, the northern part of the London Borough of Croydon, the western part of the London Borough of Bexley and the northwestern part of the London Borough of Bromley are within the postcode area.

In 2002, some residents in West Heath, a slight projection with neighbouring areas, wished to have their postcodes changed from SE2 to the adjacent DA7 postcode district, citing higher insurance for their houses, belongings and cars as reasons to change. Royal Mail has said it will not consider changes to postcodes for these reasons.

Map

References

References

1. "Postcodes". The British Postal Museum and Archive.
2. Monopolies and Mergers Commission. (1980). "The Inner London Letter Post". [[Office of Public Sector Information.
3. Royal Mail. (2004). "Management Guide". Royal Mail Group.
4. (July 2012). "Non Geographic Codes". Royal Mail Address Management Unit.
5. (1930). "Names of Streets and Places in the London Postal area". [[Office of Public Sector Information.
6. (12 March 2002). "Cracking the codes not easy". [[This is Local London]].

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