This is a list of telephone exchanges located within Greater London. [1] Occasionally, in areas of high demand, two exchanges are located at the same premises; for example Canary Wharf and Poplar.
London had a large network of manual exchanges (80 in 1927) and individual telephone exchanges were given names, e.g. Ebbsfleet; a caller asked the operator for Ebbsfleet 1234. However, although the General Post Office (GPO) had commenced installation of automatic exchanges from 1912, the basic Strowger or SXS switch adopted as standard by the GPO was not suitable for large cities like London. So from 1927 a development of the SXS switch was installed in London, the Director system; first at HOLborn followed by BIShopgate and SLOane exchanges and then WEStern and MONument. Telephones on automatic exchanges had letters as well as numbers marked on the telephone dial, and calls to London numbers used the first three letters of the exchange name followed by four digits, e.g. EUS 1234. [2] The number could be dialled as 387-1234 or spoken to a manual exchange operator as Euston 1234.
London manual exchanges were gradually converted to Director automatic exchanges from 1927. Holborn was the first, at midnight on Saturday 12 November, a local and tandem exchange. Bishopgate and Sloane exchanges followed in six weeks, then Western and Monument exchanges. The London area contained 80 exchanges, and full conversion was to take many years. [3]
Until the late 1960s, some outer London exchanges did not offer direct dialling, and their numbers could be identified in the directory by being printed in light type, unlike normal exchanges, whose first three letters appeared in bold type. To call a Pinner number, for example, you would dial PIN, wait for the operator to answer, then state the 4-figure number required.
As the telephone system was modernised and liberalised with multiple telephone companies and numbers became portable, the rigid correspondence of numeric codes to exchanges was relaxed, but even today it is likely that a (7)387 number, for example, is located in the Euston area. Lists of numbers allocated to BT exchanges in the UK, including London, are available online, and enable the exchange associated with a given number to be found, if applicable. [4] Locations of exchanges, given a postcode in their catchment area, are also documented. [1]
NOTE: The United Kingdom adopts an open dialling plan for area codes within its public switched telephone network. Therefore, all area codes have a preceding 0 (zero) when dialling from within the United Kingdom. When dialling a UK number from abroad the zero is omitted and replaced by the calling country's international call prefix followed by 44, the country code for the UK. Thus a call to the Euston exchange discussed above from the United States would be to 011 (US international prefix) 44 20 (London) 73871234.
OLO [a] code | Exchange name | London borough | Dial code |
---|---|---|---|
LWACT | Acton | Ealing | 020 |
LSADD | Addiscombe | Croydon | 020 |
LNADK | Albert Dock | Newham | 020 |
WRBAL | Balham | Wandsworth | 020 |
LNBKG | Barking | Barking and Dagenham | 020 |
LNBAR | Barnet | Barnet | 020 |
LSBATT | Battersea | Wandsworth | 020 |
WEWBAY | Bayswater | Westminster | 020 |
LSBEC | Beckenham | Bromley | 020 |
WRBEL | Belgravia | Westminster | 020 |
CLBER | Bermondsey | Southwark | 020 |
LSBEU | Beulah Hill | Croydon | 020 |
LSBEX | Bexleyheath | Bexley | 020 |
NDBHI | Biggin Hill | Bromley | 01959 |
CLBIS | Bishopsgate | City of London | 020 |
WEWBLO | Bloomsbury | Camden | 020 |
LNBPK | Bowes Park | Haringey | 020 |
WRBRIX | Brixton | Lambeth | 020 |
LSBRO | Bromley | Bromley | 020 |
LNCNW | Canary Wharf | Tower Hamlets | 020 |
CLCAN | Canonbury | Islington | 020 |
LSCTFD | Catford | Lewisham | 020 |
WRCHEL | Chelsea | Kensington and Chelsea | 020 |
LSCHES | Chessington | Kingston upon Thames | 020 |
LNCHF | Chingford | Waltham Forest | 020 |
LSCHI | Chislehurst | Bromley | 020 |
LWCHI | Chiswick | Hounslow | 020 |
LNCLA | Clapton | Hackney | 020 |
CLCLE | Clerkenwell | Islington | 020 |
LWCOL | Colindale | Barnet | 020 |
CLCOV | Covent Garden | Westminster | 020 |
LSCRAY | Crayford | Bexley | 01322 |
LWCRI | Cricklewood | Barnet | 020 |
LNCED | Crouch End | Haringey | 020 |
LSCRO | Croydon | Croydon | 020 |
LNDAG | Dagenham | Barking and Dagenham | 020 |
LWDEN | Denham | Denham | 01895 |
LSDEP | Deptford | Lewisham | 020 |
LSDOW | Downland | Croydon | 01737 |
LSDUL | Dulwich | Southwark | 020 |
LWEAL | Ealing | Ealing | 020 |
WRECT | Earls Court | Kensington and Chelsea | 020 |
LWEDG | Edgware | Barnet | 020 |
LNEDM | Edmonton | Enfield | 020 |
LSELT | Eltham | Greenwich | 020 |
LNENF | Enfield | Enfield | 020 |
LSERI | Erith | Bexley | 01322 |
CLEUS | Euston | Camden | 020 |
CLFAR | Faraday | City of London | 020 |
LSFARB | Farnborough | Bromley | 01689 |
LWFEL | Feltham | Hounslow | 020 |
LNFIN | Finchley | Barnet | 020 |
CLFLE | Fleet | City of London | 020 |
LSFOR | Forest Hill | Lewisham | 020 |
WRFULM | Fulham | Hammersmith and Fulham | 020 |
LNGHL | Gants Hill | Redbridge | 020 |
LSGIP | Gipsy Hill | Lambeth | 020 |
LWGOL | Golders Green | Barnet | 020 |
LNGDM | Goodmayes | Redbridge | 020 |
LWGRE | Greenford | Ealing | 020 |
LSGRNW | Greenwich | Greenwich | 020 |
LSGRO | Grove Park | Lewisham | 020 |
LNHAC | Hackney | Hackney | 020 |
LWHAM | Hammersmith | Hammersmith and Fulham | 020 |
WEWHAM | Hampstead | Camden | 020 |
LWHARE | Harefield | Hillingdon | 01895 |
LWHARL | Harlesden | Brent | 020 |
LWHARR | Harrow | Harrow | 020 |
LWHAT | Hatch End | Harrow | 020 |
LSHAY | Hayes Common | Bromley | 020 |
LWHAY | Hayes North | Hillingdon | 020 |
LWHEN | Hendon | Barnet | 020 |
LNHPK | Highams Park | Waltham Forest | 020 |
CLHOL | Holborn | Camden | 020 |
LNHOR | Hornchurch | Havering | 01708 |
LWHOU | Hounslow | Hounslow | 020 |
LNILC | Ilford Central | Redbridge | 020 |
LNILN | Ilford North | Redbridge | 020 |
LNING | Ingrebourne | Havering | 01708 |
LWISL | Isleworth | Hounslow | 020 |
LWKGRE | Kensal Green | Westminster | 020 |
WRKGDN | Kensington Gardens | Kensington and Chelsea | 020 |
CLKEN | Kentish Town | Camden | 020 |
LWKROA | Kenton Road | Harrow | 020 |
LSKID | Kidbrooke | Greenwich | 020 |
CLKXX | Kings Cross | Camden | 020 |
LWKIN | Kingsbury | Brent | 020 |
CLKLG | Kingsland Green | Islington | 020 |
LSKIN | Kingston | Kingston upon Thames | 020 |
LWKNE | Kneller Hall | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
LSLEE | Lee Green | Lewisham | 020 |
LNLEY | Leytonstone | Waltham Forest | 020 |
LSLODH | Lodge Hill | Croydon | 01689 |
WEWLOR | Lords | Westminster | 020 |
CLLOW | Lower Holloway | Islington | 020 |
WEWMAI | Maida Vale | Camden | 020 |
LSMAL | Malden | Kingston upon Thames | 020 |
WEWMAR | Marylebone | Westminster | 020 |
WEWMAY | Mayfair | Westminster | 020 |
LSMEPK | Merton Park | Merton | 020 |
LNMED | Mile End | Tower Hamlets | 020 |
LWMIL | Mill Hill | Barnet | 020 |
LSMIT | Mitcham | Merton | 020 |
LSMOL | Molesey | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
CLMON | Monument | City of London | 020 |
CLMOO | Moorgate | City of London | 020 |
LSMOR | Mortlake | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
LNMUS | Muswell Hill | Haringey | 020 |
CLNEW | New Cross | Lewisham | 020 |
LNNWS | New Southgate | Barnet | 020 |
WRNELMS | Nine Elms | Wandsworth | 020 |
LSNOR | Norbury | Croydon | 020 |
LSNCHM | North Cheam | Sutton | 020 |
LWNEDG | North Edgware | Barnet | 020 |
LNNFN | North Finchley | Barnet | 020 |
WEWNPN | North Paddington | Westminster | 020 |
LWNWEM | North Wembley | Brent | 020 |
LWNOR | Northolt | Ealing | 020 |
LWNWOO | Northwood | Hillingdon | 01923 |
LSORP | Orpington | Bromley | 01689 |
WEWPAD | Paddington | Westminster | 020 |
LNPGN | Palmers Green | Enfield | 020 |
WRPGRN | Parsons Green | Hammersmith and Fulham | 020 |
LWPER | Perivale | Ealing | 020 |
WRPIM | Pimlico | Westminster | 020 |
LWPIN | Pinner | Harrow | 020 |
LNPON | Ponders End | Enfield | 020 |
LNPOP | Poplar | Tower Hamlets | 020 |
WEWPRI | Primrose Hill | Westminster | 020 |
LSPUR | Purley | Croydon | 020 |
LSPUT | Putney | Wandsworth | 020 |
LNRAI | Rainham | Havering | 01708 |
LSRIC | Richmond Kew | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
LNROM | Romford | Havering | 01708 |
LWRUI | Ruislip | Hillingdon | 01895 |
LSRUS | Rushey Green | Lewisham | 020 |
LSSAN | Sanderstead | Croydon | 020 |
LWSHE | Shepherd's Bush | Hammersmith and Fulham | 020 |
CLSHO | Shoreditch | Hackney | 020 |
LSSID | Sidcup | Bexley | 020 |
LWSKY | Skyport | Hillingdon | 020 |
LSSLA | Slade Green | Bexley | 01322 |
WRSLO | Sloane | Kensington and Chelsea | 020 |
WEWSOH | Soho (Gerrard Street) | Westminster | 020 |
LSCLPM | South Clapham | Wandsworth | 020 |
LWSHAR | South Harrow | Harrow | 020 |
WRSKEN | South Kensington | Kensington and Chelsea | 020 |
LWSOU | Southall | Ealing | 020 |
WRSTHBK | Southbank | Southwark | 020 |
CLSOU | Southwark | Southwark | 020 |
LNSTA | Stamford Hill | Hackney | 020 |
LWSTAN | Stanmore | Harrow | 020 |
CLSTE | Stepney Green | Tower Hamlets | 020 |
LNSTF | Stratford | Newham | 020 |
LSSTR | Streatham | Lambeth | 020 |
LSSUR | Surbiton | Kingston upon Thames | 020 |
LSSUT | Sutton Cheam | Sutton | 020 |
LSSYD | Sydenham | Bromley | 020 |
LSTED | Teddington | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
LSTHMD | Thamesmead | Greenwich | 020 |
LSTHO | Thornton Heath | Croydon | 020 |
LNTOT | Tottenham | Haringey | 020 |
LSTUL | Tulse Hill | Lambeth | 020 |
LWTWI | Twickenham | Richmond upon Thames | 020 |
LNUPM | Upminster | Havering | 01708 |
CLUPP | Upper Holloway | Islington | 020 |
LNUPK | Upton Park | Newham | 020 |
LWUXB | Uxbridge | Hillingdon | 01895 |
WRVAUX | Vauxhall | Lambeth | 020 |
LSWAL | Wallington | Sutton | 020 |
LNWTH | Walthamstow | Waltham Forest | 020 |
CLWAL | Walworth | Southwark | 020 |
LSWAN | Wandsworth | Wandsworth | 020 |
LNWSD | Wanstead | Redbridge | 020 |
CLWAP | Wapping | Tower Hamlets | 020 |
LWWEM | Wembley | Brent | 020 |
LWWDRA | West Drayton | Hillingdon | 01895 |
WRWKEN | West Kensington | Hammersmith and Fulham | 020 |
LSWWKM | West Wickham | Bromley | 020 |
WRWMIN | Westminster | Westminster | 020 |
WRWHI | Whitehall | Westminster | 020 |
LWWIL | Willesden | Brent | 020 |
LSWIM | Wimbledon | Merton | 020 |
LNWIN | Winchmore Hill | Enfield | 020 |
CLWOO | Wood Street | City of London | 020 |
LNWFD | Woodford | Redbridge | 020 |
LSWOO | Woolwich | Greenwich | 020 |
LSWOR | Worcester Park | Sutton | 020 |
The following exchanges are located outside Greater London, but use the London 020 dial code.
OLO [5] code | Exchange name | District, County | Dial code |
---|---|---|---|
LWBUS | Bushey Heath | Hertsmere, Hertfordshire | 020 |
LWELS | Elstree | Hertsmere, Hertfordshire | 020 |
LNHAI | Hainault | Epping Forest, Essex | 020 |
LSEWE | Ewell | Epsom and Ewell, Surrey | 020 |
LNLOU | Loughton | Epping Forest, Essex | 020 |
LSTHDT | Thames Ditton | Elmbridge, Surrey | 020 |
An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.
The Strowger switch is the first commercially successful electromechanical stepping switch telephone exchange system. It was developed by the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company founded in 1891 by Almon Brown Strowger. Because of its operational characteristics, it is also known as a step-by-step (SXS) switch.
A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefix similar to an area code. The specific service access varies by country.
Subscriber trunk dialling (STD), also known as subscriber toll dialing, is a telephone numbering plan feature and telecommunications technology in the United Kingdom and various Commonwealth countries for the dialling of trunk calls by telephone subscribers without the assistance of switchboard operators.
The director telephone system was a development of the Strowger or step-by-step (SXS) switching system used in London and five other large cities in the UK from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Seven-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure customary in some territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for dialing telephone numbers in the same numbering plan area (NPA). NANP telephone numbers consist of ten digits, of which the leading three are the area code. In seven-digit dialing it is not necessary to dial the area code. The procedure is also sometimes known as local format or network format.
All-figure dialling was a telephone numbering plan introduced in the United Kingdom starting in 1966 that replaced the traditional system of using initial letters of telephone exchange names as the first part of a telephone number. The change affected subscriber numbers in the cities of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester which used the Director telephone system.
In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate than local calls. The term is not necessarily synonymous with placing calls to another telephone area code.
Area codes 514, 438, and 263 are telephone area codes of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Montreal and most of its on-island suburbs, specifically the Island of Montreal and Île Perrot in the Canadian province of Quebec.
A telephone exchange name or central office name was a distinguishing and memorable name assigned to a central office. It identified the switching system to which a telephone was connected, and facilitated the connection of telephone calls between switching systems in different localities.
Widespread UK telephone code misconceptions, in particular brought on by the Big Number Change in 2000, have been reported by regulator Ofcom since publication of a report it commissioned in 2004.
020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exchanges in and around Greater London as part of the largest linked numbering scheme in the United Kingdom. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling London from abroad.
TXK was a range of Crossbar exchanges used by the British Post Office telephone network, subsequently BT, between 1964 and 1994. TXC was used as the designation at first, but this was later changed as TXC sounded too much like TXE the code used for later electronic exchanges. Prior to this the GPO had standardised on Strowger for automatic switching and had resisted the adoption of Crossbar, preferring to wait for its electronic switching research to bear fruit. The development of electronic systems however took longer than anticipated and the British equipment manufacturers, particularly Automatic Telephone & Electric (ATE), which later became part of the Plessey group feared that continuing to focus the bulk of their production on Strowger equipment would harm their export sales as Crossbar had already become popular throughout the world.
A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices for data transmission via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), or other public and private networks. Modern smart phones have added a built-in layer of abstraction whereby individuals or businesses are saved into a contacts application and the numbers no longer have to be written down or memorized.
A telephone exchange, also known as a telephone switch or central office, is a crucial component in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or large enterprise telecommunications systems. It facilitates the interconnection of telephone subscriber lines or digital system virtual circuits, enabling telephone calls between subscribers.
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom have a flexible structure that reflects their historical demands, starting from many independent companies through a nationalised near-monopoly, to a system that supports many different services, including cellular phones, which were not envisaged when the system was first built. Numbers evolved in a piecemeal fashion, with numbers initially allocated on an exchange-by-exchange basis for calls connected by manual operators. Subscriber numbers reflected demand in each area, with single digit telephone numbers in very rural areas and longer numbers in cities.
The Cities of Manchester and Salford and some surrounding urban areas such as Stockport, Oldham and Bolton,, were the location of several advances in the development of telephony in the United Kingdom. A Manchester company installed the country's first regular telephone system in the city, wiring solutions which were adopted across Britain were initiated in Manchester and Stockport, the city was (arguably) the site of the UK's first telephone exchange and a service which was the forerunner of modern mobile phones was controlled from the city.
In conventional landline telephony, a non-dialable toll point or toll station was a lone station or line serving a rural subscriber many miles from the nearest central office. As it had no home telephone exchange and therefore no local calling area, no customer could dial its number; all connections to it had to be obtained manually by the long distance operator.
Dialling is the action of initiating a telephone call by operating the rotary dial or the telephone keypad of a telephone.
The Automatic Telephone and Electric Company was a British telephone exchange manufacturer established in 1911. After several name changes and acquisitions, the company was merged into Plessey in 1961.
OLO – Other Licensed Operator