How many former landfill sites are there in Shefford?

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

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 Shefford, Central Bedfordshire

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 22 historic landfill sites in and around Shefford, Central Bedfordshire. covering roughly 62 hectares in total. The largest is Stanford at 31.34 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to liquid/sludge waste. Data: October 2025 revision.

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

All recorded sites, largest first

Site	Area	Last input	Waste types
Stanford	31.34 ha	1965	Household
Beadlow Tip	9.12 ha	1989	IndustrialCommercial
Former Railway Cutting	4.42 ha	1990	IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
The Airman Public House	3.25 ha	1971	IndustrialHouseholdInert
Railway Cutting	2.26 ha	1990	IndustrialHouseholdCommercial
Beadlow Tip Next to Golf Course	1.79 ha	1982	IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Beadlow Tip	1.78 ha	1980	Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercial
Chapel Farm	1.45 ha	—	Waste types not recorded
Sand Pit	0.83 ha	1990	Inert
Upton End Farm	0.74 ha	1993	Inert
Disused Sand Pit	0.73 ha	1986	IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Opposite Tyne Hill Farm	0.66 ha	—	HouseholdCommercial
Disused Gravel Pit	0.63 ha	—	Waste types not recorded
South of Windmill Farm	0.46 ha	1989	Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Lower Stondon	0.39 ha	—	Household
Beadlow Manor Golf Course	0.32 ha	1982	Industrial
Beadlow Tip	0.32 ha	1978	IndustrialInert
Upton End Farm	0.32 ha	—	Inert
Campton Road	0.23 ha	1969	Waste types not recorded
Clophill	0.23 ha	—	Waste types not recorded
Mount Pleasant Farm	0.19 ha	1986	HouseholdCommercialInert
Mount Pleasant Farm	0.19 ha	1970	HouseholdCommercial

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 Shefford?: 22 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Shefford 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 Shefford?: 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.