Historic landfill sites in Barnstaple, Devon
The Environment Agency records 16 historic landfill sites in and around Barnstaple, Devon. covering roughly 53 hectares in total. The largest is Seven Brethren Bank Former Landfill Site at 23.03 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to industrial waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Barnstaple (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seven Brethren Bank Former Landfill Site | 23.03 ha | 1992 | IndustrialHousehold |
| Claypits Coverts | 11.23 ha | 1993 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Adjacent to Railway Sticklepath Hill | 4.14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Taw Wharf | 2.99 ha | 1990 | IndustrialInert |
| Brannams Claypits | 2.92 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Wooleway's Site | 2.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Templeton Quarry | 1.61 ha | — | Inert |
| Lower Leigh Quarry | 1.33 ha | 1988 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
| Bickington | 0.81 ha | 1983 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Marsh Farm | 0.75 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Park School Railway Cutting | 0.59 ha | 1982 | Inert |
| Linden Close Quarry | 0.44 ha | 1988 | IndustrialInert |
| Chapelton Sawmills | 0.35 ha | 1992 | Industrial |
| Woolaways | 0.22 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Heanton Court Farm | 0.06 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Woolaways Junction Yard | 0.04 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
What this data does — and doesn't — cover
- Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
- Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
- Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
- Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.
EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.
Common questions
- How many former landfill sites are there in Barnstaple?
- 16 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Barnstaple town centre in the Environment Agency's Historic Landfill dataset (October 2025 revision). Pre-1974 sites are incompletely recorded, so the true historical number is likely higher.
- How do I check a specific address in Barnstaple?
- Search the postcode on Landfill Check — you'll see every recorded site within 1km, with distance, direction and waste types, measured to the site boundary.
Nearby areas
Worth reading: buying a house near a former landfill and what the waste types mean.