Historic landfill sites in Bolton
The Environment Agency records 42 historic landfill sites in and around Bolton. covering roughly 61 hectares in total. The largest is Cox Green at 6.07 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Bolton (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land off Hypatia Street, Brookfield | 6.07 ha | 1993 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Cox Green | 6.07 ha | 1982 | SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land at Deane Church Lane | 4.45 ha | 1968 | Household |
| Bolton Powerstation | 4.34 ha | — | IndustrialCommercialInert |
| John Street Playing Fields | 3.66 ha | 1991 | Inert |
| Bolton - Keynon Junction Railway Line | 3.55 ha | 1989 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
| Halliwell Industrial Estate | 3.31 ha | — | Industrial |
| Disused Railway between Deane Church Lane and Hulton Lane | 2.99 ha | 1989 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
| Land at Bradford Park | 2.57 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Bromley Cross Quarry | 2.11 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Settle Street | 2.06 ha | — | Household |
| Harbour Lane | 1.8 ha | 1973 | Household |
| Springfield Heights Reservoir | 1.77 ha | 1992 | Inert |
| Bolton-Kenyon Jumction Railway Line | 1.45 ha | 1989 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land off Hypatia Street | 1.37 ha | 1989 | SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Wagon Road | 1.11 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Heaton Cemetery | 1.07 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Waterworks Depot | 0.99 ha | 1988 | Inert |
| Tonge Cemetery | 0.91 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Boot Lane Tip | 0.84 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Bolton Power Station | 0.61 ha | 1980 | IndustrialInert |
| Disused Railway between Ellesmere Road and Higher Shaw Lane. Bolton-Kenyon Junction Railway | 0.61 ha | 1989 | SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
| Hardman's Farm | 0.59 ha | 1982 | IndustrialInert |
| Weymouth Street | 0.58 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Deakins Industrial Estate | 0.57 ha | 1987 | Inert |
| Bradshaw | 0.55 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Deakins Mill | 0.51 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Longworth Lane | 0.48 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Wagon Road | 0.43 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Horrocks Fold | 0.41 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Halliwell Mill | 0.41 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Lightbounds Reservoir | 0.33 ha | — | Industrial |
| Deakins Mill | 0.32 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Thicketford Brow | 0.32 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Boardman Street | 0.24 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Springfield Heights Quarry | 0.22 ha | 1992 | Inert |
| Dunscar Golf Club | 0.2 ha | 1991 | Inert |
| Holden Fold | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Halliwell Street | 0.15 ha | 1982 | Inert |
| Boardman Street | 0.11 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Disused Railway between Deane Church Lane and St. Helens Road | 0.11 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Dunscar Industrial Estate | 0.11 ha | 1993 | Inert |
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 Bolton?
- 42 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Bolton 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 Bolton?
- 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.