Uncontrolled landfills can cause the release of significant contamination. In South England and in other parts of the UK, historical landfills are spread along the coastal and estuarine marshes and mudflats, where waste was dumped without regard to the environment. Much of the pollution from these landfills may have been dispersed and diluted into coastal waters with little impact. However, fine-grained sediments within these environments may have trapped or sequestered metals. The aim of this study is to investigate the degree to which heavy metals from these historical sites may have contaminated the adjacent marshes and intertidal mudflats.