Historic landfill sites in Seaham, County Durham
The Environment Agency records 8 historic landfill sites in and around Seaham, County Durham. covering roughly 17 hectares in total. The largest is Area B North of Dawdon at 5.02 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to commercial waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Seaham (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area B North of Dawdon | 5.02 ha | — | Commercial |
| Ryhope Dene | 3.49 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Ryhope Dene North | 3.23 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Area A North of Seaham | 2.74 ha | — | Commercial |
| Area C Foxcover | 1.49 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Area K West of Wheatley Hill | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| West of Cold Hesledon Dalton | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Area Z East of Murton | 0.2 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 Seaham?
- 8 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Seaham 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 Seaham?
- 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.