CW postcode district map, Crewe
Supplier statuses last checked .
The CW postcode area covers 13 districts and 9,862 live postcodes, from CW1 to CW98. It is centred on Crewe and also covers Northwich, Winsford, Congleton, Nantwich and Sandbach.
Districts here average 759 postcodes.
Where the CW districts sit
1 district is plotted without a label where labels would overlap; every one is in the table below.
Where CW sits
It is administratively fragmented, reaching into Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Staffordshire and Shropshire and 0 other authorities.
Water supply across CW
All 13 CW districts are supplied by United Utilities. That makes CW simple in a way many areas are not: one company, one set of rules, one status to check.
No hosepipe ban currently applies anywhere in CW.
The shape of the CW area
The districts are wildly uneven: CW1 holds 1,175 postcodes around Crewe and CW98 holds 2, a ratio of about 588 to one. They divide into 49 sectors.
The numbering is not continuous. CW runs up to 98 but has only 13 districts, so 85 numbers are unused:.
District by district: CW1 serves Crewe, CW2 serves Crewe, CW3 serves Madeley, CW4 serves Middlewich, CW5 serves Nantwich, CW6 serves Winsford, CW7 serves Winsford, CW8 serves Northwich, CW9 serves Northwich, CW10 serves Middlewich, CW11 serves Sandbach, CW12 serves Congleton and CW98 serves Crewe.
Several districts share a settlement, which is a common source of confusion when a form rejects an address: CW1, CW2 and CW98 all point at Crewe, CW4 and CW10 all point at Middlewich and CW6 and CW7 all point at Winsford.
What borders CW
CW sits next to WA (Warrington) to the north, ST (Stoke-on-Trent) to the south east, SK (Stockport) to the north east, M (Manchester) to the north and TF (Telford) to the south.
Its neighbours run in 4 different directions, so CW is landlocked by other postcode areas on most sides.
CW districts, settlements and water supply
| District | Principal settlement | Water company | Hosepipe ban status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CW1 | Crewe | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW2 | Crewe | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW3 | Madeley | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW4 | Middlewich | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW5 | Nantwich | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW6 | Winsford | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW7 | Winsford | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW8 | Northwich | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW9 | Northwich | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW10 | Middlewich | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW11 | Sandbach | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW12 | Congleton | United Utilities | No restrictions |
| CW98 | Crewe | United Utilities | No restrictions |
Principal settlement is the town or city each district sits in or nearest to, derived from OS Open Names. It is not the Royal Mail post town, which is licensed data and not published openly. Status is resolved live from each company’s own notice.
Water hardness in CW
No water company covering CW publishes hardness figures as open data. The gap is named per district below so you know who to ask.
United Utilities does not publish hardness as open data, but does publish a water hardness factsheet with a full band table and a postcode water quality checker.
| District | Hardness | As published | Supply zone | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CW1 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW2 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW3 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW4 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW5 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW6 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW7 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW8 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW9 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW10 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW11 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW12 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
| CW98 | Not published by United Utilities. Check with your supplier. | |||
Hardness is published per census area, not per postcode, so these figures characterise a district rather than measuring one address. They are a scale and taste matter, not a safety one. Hardness data version wessex-water@2022-2025+yorkshire-water@2026.
Download the CW data
No signup, no email wall. GeoJSON carries the district points, the supplier and the live status, so it can be dropped straight into a map.
District positions are averaged postcode centroids from OS Code-Point Open. They show roughly where a district sits, not where its boundary runs, and are not legal boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
How many postcode districts are in the CW area?
There are 13 CW postcode districts, running from CW1 to CW98, and they contain 9,862 live postcodes across 49 sectors.
What towns does the CW postcode area cover?
CW covers Crewe, Northwich, Winsford, Congleton, Nantwich and Sandbach. The area takes its name from Crewe, and each district is listed with its settlement in the table on this page.
Which water company supplies CW postcodes?
United Utilities supplies all 13 CW districts. Supply boundaries follow the pipe network rather than postcode geography, so confirm against your water bill if you are near the edge of the area.
Why do CW1 and CW2 both say Crewe?
CW1, CW2 and CW98 all serve Crewe, covering different parts of it. A single town routinely needs more than one postcode district once it passes a few thousand delivery points, so this is normal rather than an error in an address.
Can I download a free CW postcode map?
Yes. This page offers the CW districts as GeoJSON, CSV and SVG, free and with no signup or email address required. The GeoJSON carries each district's position, its water company and its current restriction status, so it can be dropped straight into a mapping tool.
Which councils cover the CW postcode area?
CW reaches into Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Staffordshire and Shropshire. A postcode area is not a council area: they were drawn for different purposes and a single district can sit across a council boundary, so your postcode does not tell you which authority you pay.
Why is there no CW97 postcode district?
CW97 is not in use. Postcode districts are allocated as sorting requirements change rather than numbered straight through, and a code that is retired or never brought into service is not reissued, so gaps in the sequence are normal.