Historic landfill sites in Lees
The Environment Agency records 95 historic landfill sites in and around Lees. covering roughly 109 hectares in total. The largest is Deanshut Clough at 24.71 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Lees (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deanshut Clough | 24.71 ha | 1982 | SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Breeze Hill | 14.73 ha | 1972 | Commercial |
| High Moor Quarry | 5.97 ha | 1971 | IndustrialCommercial |
| Lydgate Drive / Breeze Hill | 4.18 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land adjacent to Constantine Street (South) | 3.98 ha | 1972 | Commercial |
| Disused railway track | 2.91 ha | 1986 | IndustrialInert |
| Land off Constantine Street | 2.76 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Birks Quarry | 2.64 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land At Glodwick Lows | 2.49 ha | 1992 | Inert |
| Land at Lynwood Drive | 2.36 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Stoneleigh Road | 2.02 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Crowley Lane Quarry | 1.83 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Springhead Quarry | 1.64 ha | 1990 | IndustrialInert |
| Deanshut Clough | 1.46 ha | 1992 | HouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land near to Beckett Street - Turner Street | 1.44 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Rabbit Clough | 1.4 ha | — | Inert |
| Medlock Vales Lees East | 1.29 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land near Phillimore Street | 1.26 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Derker Mills | 1.23 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Whitebarn Farm | 1.15 ha | 1990 | IndustrialCommercialInert |
| Highmoor Scouthead Tip 2 | 1.08 ha | — | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialCommercialInert |
| Land at High Lee Farm | 1.02 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Ashes Clough | 1 ha | 1971 | Liquid / sludgeIndustrialCommercial |
| Alt Hill Farm | 0.99 ha | 1995 | Inert |
| Land at Beaufort Drive | 0.91 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Recreation Grounds at Lower Fields | 0.89 ha | 1984 | Inert |
| Land at Lynwood Drive | 0.85 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Majestic Mills | 0.82 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Cairo Mill | 0.79 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Watersheddings Mill | 0.78 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Heywith Zion PS | 0.68 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land adjacent to Turner Street | 0.63 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Lees Brook Mill | 0.61 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Spring Close | 0.59 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Fernhill | 0.55 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Kiln Farm | 0.54 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Medlock Vales Lees West | 0.53 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Alders Farm | 0.51 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Orme Mill | 0.5 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Pitt Street East | 0.48 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Stamford Mill | 0.47 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land adjacent to Wood Brook | 0.46 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Barrowshaw Farm | 0.41 ha | — | Inert |
| Land at Owl Mill | 0.4 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Disused quarry off Whitegates Lane | 0.39 ha | 1988 | Inert |
| Stone Breaks Hill Quarry | 0.39 ha | 1988 | Inert |
| Land at Athens Mill North | 0.38 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Granville Mill | 0.36 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land off Buckley Road | 0.35 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Equitable Mill | 0.35 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land adjacent to Wood Brook | 0.35 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Bank Top | 0.34 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Ruby Mill | 0.33 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Bank Top Lodge / Mills | 0.32 ha | 1986 | Inert |
| Land at Thorp Lane | 0.32 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Hartshead Green Farm | 0.3 ha | 1988 | IndustrialInert |
| Hopkin Mills | 0.3 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Grotton Hollow | 0.29 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Greenacres Mill | 0.28 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Longfield Mill | 0.27 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Bedford Mill | 0.25 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Opposite 4 Norbury Lane | 0.25 ha | — | Inert |
| Land at Newroyd Mill | 0.25 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at County End Mill | 0.24 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Prince Charlie Street | 0.24 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Livingstone Mill | 0.24 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Springbank Mills | 0.23 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land to the rear of Ferndale Close / Manor Road | 0.22 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Prince of Wales Mill | 0.21 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land At Zion Methodist Church | 0.21 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Greenacres Congregational Church | 0.21 ha | 1965 | SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Land at Haugh Hill Road | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Haugh Hill Road / Haven Lane | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Moorside House | 0.18 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land off Turf Pit Lane | 0.17 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Austerlands Mill | 0.15 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Waterworks Road | 0.15 ha | 1993 | Inert |
| Land off Stone Breaks Road | 0.15 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Further Hey Mill | 0.14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Livingstone Mill | 0.14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Newbreck Mills | 0.14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Clipsley Crescent | 0.14 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Athens Mill West | 0.13 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Clough Mill | 0.13 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Sett Mill | 0.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land off Brook Lane | 0.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Hey Crescent / Sun Hill Mills | 0.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Livingstone Mill | 0.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Sett Mill | 0.1 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land Behind houses to the south of Vincent Avenue | 0.09 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Orb Mill | 0.09 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land adjacent to Hill Top Lane | 0.08 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Derker Mills | 0.08 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Land at Phoenix Mills | 0.07 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Sun Hill Mills / Land at Hey Crescent | 0.04 ha | — | Waste 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 Lees?
- 95 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Lees 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 Lees?
- 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.