Landfill Check

Historic landfill sites in Exeter, Devon

The Environment Agency records 22 historic landfill sites in and around Exeter, Devon. covering roughly 107 hectares in total. The largest is Mincinglake at 32.76 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to liquid/sludge waste. Data: October 2025 revision.

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

All recorded sites, largest first

SiteAreaLast inputWaste types
Mincinglake32.76 ha1972IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Flowerpot Playing Field14.34 haWaste types not recorded
Kenbury Wood11.71 haIndustrialInert
Wonford Playing Field10.95 haWaste types not recorded
Hamlin Lane10.92 haWaste types not recorded
Clifton Hill4.83 haIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Water Lane / Clapperbrook3.73 haIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Pinhoe Factory Quarry / Westbrick Site3.27 haInert
Railway Cutting2.26 ha1990IndustrialHouseholdInert
Marks Farm1.8 haWaste types not recorded
Polsloe1.59 haIndustrialInert
Polsloe Park1.51 haWaste types not recorded
Exwick Barton1.42 haIndustrialInert
Silverton Mills1.26 haLiquid / sludgeIndustrialInert
Pinhoe Factory Quarry1.19 haInert
Hill Farm0.85 haWaste types not recorded
Browns Farm0.73 haIndustrialInert
Calthorpe Road (Private Tip)0.7 haWaste types not recorded
Pynes Wate Treatment Works0.65 haInert
Ide Refuse Tip0.39 ha1970Waste types not recorded
Eastmonds Tip0.16 haWaste types not recorded
Sleeman's Private Tip0.16 haWaste 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 Exeter?
22 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Exeter 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 Exeter?
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.