Landfill Check

Historic landfill sites in York, York

The Environment Agency records 40 historic landfill sites in and around York, York. covering roughly 170 hectares in total. The largest is Thomas Street and St Nicholas Tip at 17.09 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.

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

All recorded sites, largest first

SiteAreaLast inputWaste types
Thomas Street and St Nicholas Tip17.09 ha1973Liquid / sludgeCommercial
Clay Target Centre10.64 ha—Waste types not recorded
Grimston Bar Borrow Pit10.05 ha1986SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Acaster Malbis Airfield9.27 ha1993IndustrialHouseholdCommercial
Drome Farm8.49 ha—Waste types not recorded
Hob Moor7.82 ha1962Waste types not recorded
Bond Ash Hill Piggery7.66 ha1992IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Old Brickyard7.2 ha1984IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Gale Lane6.94 ha1962Household
Fulford Fields6.9 ha1956Waste types not recorded
The Borrow Pit6.07 ha1987Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Sim Hills Tip5.52 ha—Commercial
Rufforth Tip5.45 ha—Liquid / sludgeIndustrialCommercial
Huntington Road5.38 ha1938Waste types not recorded
Millfield Lane Borrow Pit5.37 ha1993Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Foxwood Lane5.18 ha—Waste types not recorded
Wrays Brickyard5.18 ha1993IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
The Borrow Pit5.11 ha1989Liquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Danesmead4.01 ha1966Waste types not recorded
Chapmans Pond2.83 ha—Waste types not recorded
Tang Hall and Fifth Ave2.8 ha1938Waste types not recorded
West Field2.75 ha—Waste types not recorded
Benjy Lane2.21 ha1973HouseholdCommercial
Westfield School2.19 ha1993IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Nun Ings Landfill Site2.09 ha1993IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
St. Oswalds Road1.96 ha1945Waste types not recorded
Dunnington Landfill Site1.92 ha1990IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Bull Lane1.73 ha1939Waste types not recorded
Rufforth Garth / Rufforth Playing Fields1.61 ha1993Inert
Elvington Airfield Landfill1.53 ha—Waste types not recorded
Hobmoor Terrace1.51 ha1967Household
Bull Balks Tipping Site1.25 ha1978IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Acomb Grange1.14 ha1993IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Vicarage Lane0.71 ha1992IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
St. Stephens/Foxwood lane0.7 ha1962Waste types not recorded
Waters End Landfill0.58 ha1988IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Bartrams Tip0.49 ha1973Waste types not recorded
Chaloners Whin0.3 ha—Waste types not recorded
Naburn Locks0.07 ha1978Inert
Band Ash Hill Piggery0.02 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 York?
40 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of York 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 York?
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.