The Waste

The Wastes are a vast wasteland in the land of Ingary where no one dares to venture of their own free will. It is located in the south-western corner of the kingdom.

The Wastes
The Wastes themselves are a great expanse of barren, arid desert, seemingly of packed clay. Nothing grows here, and there is hardly ever any weather - only hot sun.

The Garden
At the borders of the Wastes lays a large garden. First started by Wizard Suliman and continued by Wizard Howl, it was created to try to fence in the Witch of the Wastes. Sophie Hatter collects fresh flowers here daily for her flower shop when in hiding with Howl.

The Witch's Castle
The Witch of the Wastes lived in a tall, spindly castle that appeared to be made of sandy clay flower pots stacked one-atop-another. Inside is much larger than it appears outside (in contrast to Howl's moving castle, which is only a small house within, but a large castle outside). However, it is also mostly empty.

In the Movie
In the movie, the Wastes and the Chipping Valley seem to be one in the same, or at least very closely related. The hilly grasslands around the valley and the surrounding mountains seem to be referred to as the Wastes quite often in the movie, without any notion of an actual wasteland.

Exile
Approximately 50 years before the beginning of the novel, the Witch of the Wastes, whose name is now seemingly unknown, was banished by the King of Ingary and his Royal Wizards to live out her days in exile in the Wastes. Bitter and resentful, she was eventually able to make her way back into the kingdom proper with the death of the king who had exiled her.