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A society dedicated to celebrating and promoting the 92 historic counties of the United Kingdom and the important part they play in our culture, heritage and geography.

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Be Properly Addressed

The single most effective way to promote your county is also the easiest: include it in your postal address. Though no longer required by Royal Mail, the historic county can be included in any UK postal address if desired.

Including the county is especially important for businesses since it will not only show your county pride but will instantly tell customers throughout the UK where your business is located. Put your county on your logo, letterhead, email signature, advertisements, shop front, side of the van etc.

By convention the County line in postal addressing lies between the Post Town and Postcode.

Name of addressee                                       Mr. T. Coupe
Name of company (if relevant)                           T. Coupe & Sons
Name of property (if property has no number)            The Old Bakery 
Number and name of street                               3 Frisby Road
Dependent Locality (if needed)                          Hoby 
Post Town                                               MELTON MOWBRAY
County (optional)                                       Leicestershire  
Postcode                                                LE14 3DS

Counties have not usually been included in the ‘LONDON’ postal area or in larger Post Towns (e.g. ‘MANCHESTER’, ‘GLASGOW’ etc.), though can be included in such areas if desired.

Some towns and villages actually lie in a different county to that of the Post Town, e.g. the village of Uplyme in Dorset which lies under the ‘LYME REGIS’ Post Town. Here it makes more geographical sense to include the county before the Post Town:

Cathole Lane
Uplyme
Dorset
LYME REGIS
DT7 3SJ

Where a Post Town does not accurately describe the geographical location of a particular address, it does not have to be used in any context other than in postal addressing. It need not form part of the address for business branding or advertising. Addresses for these convey more geographical meaning if formed as ‘Street Address, Locality, County, Postcode’.

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