Woodshaw Mineshaft
SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrial
Woodshaw Mineshaft is a historic (closed) landfill site recorded by the Environment Agency near Hindley. It received special (hazardous), liquid/sludge and industrial waste between 1976 and 1986, covering about 0.17 hectares. Reference EAHLD16000, October 2025 data revision.
Full record
| EA reference | EAHLD16000 |
|---|---|
| Site name | Woodshaw Mineshaft |
| Address | Cale Lane, Top Lock, New Springs, Wigan, Greater Manchester |
| Site operator | Manchester Tankers Limited |
| Licence holder | Manchester Tankers Limited |
| Licence issued | 13 December 1977 |
| Licence surrendered | 16 November 1987 |
| First waste input | 12 January 1976 |
| Last waste input | 31 December 1986 |
| Area | 0.17 ha |
| Gas control | Not recorded |
| Leachate containment | Not recorded |
| Licensed site | Yes |
| EA area | South NW |
| Grid reference | 361400, 406800 |
Source: Environment Agency Historic Landfill Sites dataset, October 2025 revision.
Boundary map
What these waste types mean
- Special:
- the licensing-era term for hazardous waste — asbestos, chemicals, oils. The category that most warrants a closer look.
- Liquid / sludge:
- liquid wastes and sludges, such as sewage sludge or industrial effluent. Can be mobile in groundwater, so worth understanding.
- Industrial:
- factory and process waste. Contents vary widely — some benign, some not; the site's operator and era are the clues.
Other historic landfill sites nearby
- Land at Hall LaneWaste types not recorded
- Kirkless Landfill SiteLiquid / sludgeHouseholdCommercialInert
- Marsh HousesWaste types not recorded
- Land South of Makerfield WayIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
- Haigh MineshaftLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHousehold
- Haigh RoadHousehold
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.