How many former landfill sites are there in Ellesmere?

15 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Ellesmere 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 Ellesmere?

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.

Historic landfill sites in Ellesmere, Shropshire

Name: EA Historic Landfill Sites
Creator: Environment Agency
License: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-conditional-licence/environment-agency-conditional-licence

The Environment Agency records 15 historic landfill sites in and around Ellesmere, Shropshire. covering roughly 23 hectares in total. The largest is Wood Lane Landfill Site at 16.89 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.

Recorded landfill boundaries around Ellesmere (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).

All recorded sites, largest first

Site	Area	Last input	Waste types
Wood Lane Landfill Site	16.89 ha	—	Waste types not recorded
Clerks Bank, Llangollen Canal	1.15 ha	1994	IndustrialInert
Rose Cottage/Bagley Marsh, Near Hordley	0.91 ha	2002	Liquid / sludge
Birch Road, Ellesmere	0.72 ha	1974	Household
Weston Lullingfields	0.63 ha	1993	Inert
Dog Lane	0.58 ha	1980	HouseholdCommercialInert
Shelvock Quarry	0.57 ha	1986	SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Criftins	0.44 ha	1968	Waste types not recorded
The Moors	0.37 ha	1984	Inert
Ellesmere Swanhill	0.31 ha	1985	Household
Wood Lane Old Site	0.2 ha	1983	IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Pool Area - Old Brickworks	0.18 ha	—	Household
Former Landfill Ellesmere Road	0.18 ha	1970	Waste types not recorded
Stanwardine	0.06 ha	1966	Waste types not recorded
Old Chapel	—	1983	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 Ellesmere?: 15 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Ellesmere 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 Ellesmere?: 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.