Historic landfill sites in Dorchester, Dorset
The Environment Agency records 20 historic landfill sites in and around Dorchester, Dorset. covering roughly 263 hectares in total. The largest is Warmwell Quarry Part 2 at 240.83 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to liquid/sludge waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Dorchester (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warmwell Quarry Part 2 | 240.83 ha | — | IndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
| Warmwell Sand and Gravel Pits | 7.16 ha | 1994 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Cokers Frome | 3.37 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Winterborne Herringstone | 2.84 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Dorchester Rural District Council Tip | 2 ha | — | IndustrialCommercial |
| Gaddys Lane | 1.24 ha | 1993 | IndustrialInert |
| Ajoining 38 Moreton Road | 1.08 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Poundbury | 1.04 ha | — | HouseholdCommercial |
| The Scout Ground | 0.94 ha | 1993 | IndustrialInert |
| South Field Farm | 0.74 ha | 1991 | Inert |
| Crossways Sports Field | 0.33 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Higher Burton Farm | 0.21 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Manor Farm | 0.2 ha | — | Liquid / sludgeHouseholdCommercial |
| Elliots Pit | 0.2 ha | — | Inert |
| Stafford Farm | 0.2 ha | 1992 | Inert |
| Swallot Hole | 0.2 ha | 1994 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Ridgeway Hill | 0.2 ha | 1989 | IndustrialInert |
| Herrison Hospital | 0.2 ha | 1993 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Landfill at Clyffe Farm | 0.05 ha | 1985 | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Higher Southcombe Farm | 0.04 ha | — | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercial |
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 Dorchester?
- 20 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Dorchester 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 Dorchester?
- 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.