Geocoder

The geocoder supports various methods for turning postcodes into locations, or locations into postcodes, using our collected data.

Postcode -> Location

Look up the location that we have for a postcode. If we don't have an exact match for the postcode you request, then we will do our best. If we don't have an exact match, we will return #s where we don't have exact matches.

Location -> Postcode

Look up the nearest postcode for a location. You can optionally get the n nearest postcodes to a location.

Location -> Postcode Areas

Look up the nearest postcode area (eg 'OX2') for a location. You can optionally get the n nearest postcode areas to a location.

Result Formats

The results can be returned as plain text (csv with header), XML, or javascript / javascript callback.

If you request the response with the format of 'js', then you can specify the name of a funtion call to wrap around the JSON response. This will call that method with the JSON as a parameter.

URL

http://www.npemap.org.uk/cgi/geocoder.fcgi

Arguments

postcode (required, unless easting and northing given): The postcode that you wish the location of. You can enter just the outward part if you wish.
easting (required, unless postcode given): The easting part of the location, to find nearby postcodes or postcode areas. If given, 'northing' must also be supplied.
northing (required, unless postcode given): The northing part of the location, to find nearby postcodes or postcode areas. If given, 'easting' must also be supplied.
format (optional): The format to return the results in. Can be 'text', 'js' or 'xml'. The default is plain text.
results (optional): The number of results to return. The default is 1. (postcode to location searching always returns one result).
areas (optional): If searching by easting and northing, should postcodes be returned, or should postcode areas be returned? The default is to return postcodes.

Example response

# Easting,Northing,Matched Postcode
434807,219133,'OX7 3##'

Explorer

Try out this method without writing any code.