Historic landfill sites in Christchurch, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
The Environment Agency records 26 historic landfill sites in and around Christchurch, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. covering roughly 125 hectares in total. The largest is Wick Wasteland at 20.12 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to industrial waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Christchurch (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wick Wasteland | 20.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Stanpit Marsh | 18.99 ha | 1981 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Solent Meads Golf Course | 14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Iford Meadows | 13.35 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Iford Playing Fields | 11.95 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Roeshot Pit | 10.82 ha | — | Inert |
| Sheepwash Recreation Ground | 5.05 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Neacroft Gravel Pit | 4.71 ha | — | Inert |
| Littledown Recreation | 3.95 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Avonbourne Playing Fields | 3.5 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| North of Wick Lane, Opposite Riverside Road | 3.27 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| East of the Doubles Dyke | 3.26 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Bernards Mead | 2.39 ha | 1960 | Waste types not recorded |
| Recreation Ground South of Harewood Avenue | 2.01 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Practice Driving Range | 1.99 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Mudeford Quay | 1.1 ha | 1950 | HouseholdCommercial |
| Christchurch Quay | 0.89 ha | 1929 | Waste types not recorded |
| North of Wick Lane | 0.79 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Riverway | 0.7 ha | 1958 | Household |
| North of Bridle Crescent | 0.63 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land opposite Sopley Cemetery | 0.54 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Willow Way | 0.42 ha | 1952 | Household |
| Plot 7 Dudmoor Farm Lane | 0.2 ha | 1993 | IndustrialInert |
| Plots 2 and 3 | 0.16 ha | 1993 | Inert |
| Avon Beach | 0.15 ha | 1955 | Inert |
| Sunken Car Park | 0.07 ha | 1955 | Household |
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 Christchurch?
- 26 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Christchurch 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 Christchurch?
- 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.