Editing Middlesex (section)

==Former postal county== <!-- linked from [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom]] -->
Middlesex (abbreviated Middx) is a [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom|former postal county]].<ref name=digest>{{cite web |url= https://www.poweredbypaf.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Latest-Programmers_guide_Edition-7-Version-6.pdf |title= Royal Mail programmers' guide |publisher= Royal Mail |year= 2009 |access-date= 25 July 2023 }}</ref> Counties were an element of postal addressing in routine use until 1996, intended to avoid confusion between [[post town]]s, and are no longer required for the routing of the mail.<ref name=mail>{{Harvnb|Royal Mail|2004|p=9}}</ref> The postal county did not match the boundaries of Middlesex because of the presence of the [[London postal district]], which stretched into the county to include Tottenham, Willesden, Hornsey and Chiswick.<ref name=hmso_postal>HMSO, ''[http://www.londonancestor.com/po/1map-w.htm Names of Street and Places in the London Postal area]'', (1930). Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Addresses in this area included "LONDON" which is the post town but any overlap with the then County of London was coincidental. 

In 1965, [[Royal Mail]] retained the postal county because it would have been too costly to amend addresses covering the bulk of Outer London.<ref name=times_postal>{{cite newspaper The Times |title=G.P.O. To Keep Old Names. London Changes Too Costly. |date=12 April 1966 |location= London |issue= 56603 |page= 11}}</ref> Exceptionally, the Potters Bar post town was transferred to Hertfordshire. Geographically the postal county consisted of two unconnected areas, {{convert|6|mi|0}} apart. The first was in and around Enfield and the second, larger area was to the west.<ref name=map_front>{{Harvnb|Geographers' A-Z Map Company|2008|p=1}}</ref> This led the retention of 25 Post Towns to this day:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Postcode area || Post towns
|-
| [[EN postcode area|EN]] (part) || ENFIELD; POTTERS BAR (until 1965)
|-
| [[HA postcode area|HA]] || EDGWARE, HARROW, NORTHWOOD, PINNER, RUISLIP, STANMORE, WEMBLEY
|-
| [[TW postcode area|TW]] (part) || ASHFORD, BRENTFORD, FELTHAM, HAMPTON, HOUNSLOW†, ISLEWORTH, SHEPPERTON, STAINES, SUNBURY-ON-THAMES, TEDDINGTON, TWICKENHAM†
|-
| [[UB postcode area|UB]] || GREENFORD, HAYES, NORTHOLT, SOUTHALL, UXBRIDGE, WEST DRAYTON
|}

† = postal county was not required

The postal county had many border inconsistencies where its constituent [[post town]]s encroached on neighbouring counties, such as the villages of [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]] in Buckinghamshire, [[Wraysbury]] in Berkshire and [[Eastbury, Hertfordshire|Eastbury]] in Hertfordshire which were respectively in the post towns of [[Uxbridge]], [[Staines upon Thames|Staines]] and [[Northwood, London|Northwood]] and therefore in the postal county of Middlesex. [[Egham Hythe]], Surrey also had postal addresses of Staines, Middlesex. Conversely, [[Hampton Wick]] was conveniently placed in [[Kingston upon Thames|Kingston]], Surrey with its sorting offices just across the river.<ref name=waugh>{{cite news| work=The Independent | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/property-boom-fuels-calls-to-reform-postcode-lottery-591325.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130114050632/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/property-boom-fuels-calls-to-reform-postcode-lottery-591325.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 14 January 2013 |access-date=2 November 2009 |author=Paul Waugh |title=Property boom fuels calls to reform 'postcode lottery' |date=29 May 2003 |location= London}}</ref> Nearby [[Hampton Court Palace]] has a postal address of [[East Molesey]], therefore associating it with Surrey.<ref name=palace>{{cite web|publisher=Historic Royal Palaces|url=http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/planyourvisit/gettingthere.aspx |title=Hampton Court: How to find us|access-date=2 November 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Middlesex former postal county.svg|thumb|center|500px|Middlesex former postal county]]

The Enfield post town in the [[EN postcode area]] was in the former postal county. All post towns in the [[HA postcode area]] and [[UB postcode area]] were in the former postal county. Most of the [[TW postcode area]] was in the former postal county.