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{{Short description|Postcode area within the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox UK postcode area|area_code=WC}}
The '''WC (Western Central) postcode area''', also known as the '''London WC postcode area''',<ref name="guide">{{cite book | publisher=Royal Mail Group | title=Address Management Guide | year=2004 | edition=4 | author=Royal Mail | author-link=Royal Mail }}</ref> is a group of postcode districts in central [[London]], England. The area covered is of high density development, and includes parts of the [[City of Westminster]] and the [[London Borough of Camden|London Boroughs of Camden]] and [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]], plus a very small part of the [[City of London]].

The WC1 and WC2 postcode districts are relatively recent, having been established in 1917. When the districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as for geographic reference and on street signs, their subdivisions - featuring letter suffixes - are often omitted.

==Postal administration==
WC1 and WC2 postcode districts are part of the [[London postal district|London]] [[post town]].<ref name="guide"/> Until created in 1917 they comprised the WC postal district. There are no postally-recognised localities used in them.<ref name="guide"/> No great recoding in this postcode area took place from 1990 to 2007.<ref>{{Cite FTP | title=Royal Mail major recode historical information - 1990 to 1999 | url=ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/21sep06_MajorRecodes_to_1999.doc | date= 12 September 2006 | author= Royal Mail Address Management Unit | format=DOC | server=Royal Mail Group | url-status=dead | access-date=1 April 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite FTP | title=Royal Mail major recode historical information – 2000 to March 2007 | url=ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/18apr07_MajorRecodes_from_2000.pdf | date= 18 April 2007 | author= Royal Mail Address Management Unit | format=PDF | server=Royal Mail Group | url-status=dead | access-date=1 April 2010 }}</ref>

Post Offices in WC1 are at Grays Inn, Marchmont Street, Southampton Row, at High Holborn and nearby parallel New Oxford Street and in the other clustered at Aldwych and Strand.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder |title=Post Office - |access-date=26 October 2014 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723092102/http://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Western Central District Office was on New Oxford Street, a stop on the underground [[London Post Office Railway]]. Deliveries for the area come from [[Mount Pleasant Mail Centre]], west of [[Farringdon Road]].

===List of postcode districts===
The postcode districts are, with approximate coverage:

{{Postcode area table start}}
<onlyinclude> 
! WC1A
| London
| [[New Oxford Street]]
| [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]]
|-
! WC1B
| London
| [[Bloomsbury]], [[British Museum]], [[Southampton Row]]
| Camden
|-
! WC1E
| London
| [[Birkbeck, University of London|Birkbeck College]], [[University College London]], [[SOAS, University of London|SOAS]]
| Camden
|-
! WC1H
| London
| [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]], [[UCL Institute of Education]]
| Camden
|-
! WC1N
| London
| [[Russell Square]], [[Great Ormond Street Hospital|Great Ormond Street]]
| Camden
|-
! WC1R
| London
| [[Gray's Inn]]
| Camden
|-
! WC1V
| London
| [[High Holborn]]
| Camden, [[City of London]]
|-
! WC1X
| London
| [[Kings Cross, London|Kings Cross]], [[Finsbury]] (west), [[Clerkenwell]] (north)
| Camden, [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]]
|-
! WC2A
| London
| [[Lincoln's Inn Fields]], [[Royal Courts of Justice]], [[Chancery Lane]]
| Camden, [[City of Westminster|Westminster]], City of London
|-
! WC2B
| London
| [[Drury Lane]], [[Kingsway, London|Kingsway]], [[Aldwych]]
| Camden, Westminster
|-
! WC2E
| London
| [[Covent Garden]]
| Westminster
|-
! WC2H
| London
| [[Leicester Square]], [[St Giles, London|St. Giles]]
| Camden, Westminster
|-
! WC2N
| London
| [[Charing Cross]]
| Westminster
|-
! WC2R
| London
| [[Somerset House]], [[Temple, London|Temple]] (west)
| Westminster
</onlyinclude> 
|}

==Boundaries==
{{div col|small=yes}}

===WC1===
The WC1 postcode district ({{coord|51.514|-0.120|region:GB_type:city|name=WC1}}) is roughly bounded by Amwell Street, Rosebery Avenue and [[Gray's Inn Road]] to the east; [[New Oxford Street]] and [[High Holborn]] to the south (the boundary with WC2); [[Tottenham Court Road]] to the west; and [[Euston Road]] and [[Pentonville Road]] to the north, and approximately corresponds to the modern district of [[Bloomsbury]], with parts of [[Holborn]], [[King's Cross, London|King's Cross]] and [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]].<ref name="project WC1">{{cite postcode project|WC1|23 March 2010|archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925193532/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/WC1.html}}</ref> It includes [[Russell Square]], [[Tavistock Square]] and [[Coram's Fields]]. It is mostly within the [[London Borough of Camden]], although a small part towards the east is within the [[London Borough of Islington]]. It includes the [[British Museum]] and buildings owned by the federal [[University of London]] and its constituent colleges and institutes.

===WC2===
The WC2 postcode district ({{coord|51.514|-0.124|region:GB_type:city|name=WC2}}) is roughly bounded by [[Chancery Lane]] and Essex Street to the east, High Holborn and New Oxford Street to the north (the boundary with WC1), [[Wardour Street]] and Whitcomb Street to the west and [[Northumberland Avenue]] and the [[River Thames]] to the south. It includes [[Leicester Square]], [[Trafalgar Square]] and the [[Aldwych]].<ref name="project WC2">{{cite postcode project|WC2|23 March 2010|archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821031527/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/WC2.html}}</ref> It corresponds roughly to the former district of [[Strand District (Metropolis)|Strand]]. It is mostly within the [[City of Westminster]] with the northern section in the [[London Borough of Camden]] and some small areas in the east in the [[City of London]]. It includes [[Somerset House]], colleges of the University of London like [[King's College London]] (Strand campus), and the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]].
{{div col end}}

==Map==
{{Attached KML|display=inline}}
{{Postcode area imagemap|map=WC postcode area|size=210x300px}}

==See also==
*[[Postcode Address File]]
*[[List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom]]
*[[London postal district]]
*[[Central London]]
*[[West End of London]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Postcode areas in the United Kingdom}}
{{London postcode areas}}

[[Category:Postcode areas covering London]]
[[Category:Media and communications in the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Media and communications in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Media and communications in the London Borough of Islington]]
[[Category:Media and communications in the City of London]]

WC postcode area - Revision history

imported>Steinsky: rv bulk addition of promotional links that are not about the topic of this article