Camelot Theme Park
Camelot Theme Park is an abandoned resort and theme park located in the English county of Lancashire. The park's theme was the well-known legend of Camelot, and the park decor incorporated pseudo-medieval elements. It was located on a site near the village of Charnock Richard, west of Chorley.
One of the roller coasters can be seen from the M6 near the Charnock Richard Services. However as of February 2020 said rollercoaster "The Knightmare" is currently being demolished after SBNO for eight years. The site was owned by The Story Group and was operated by Knights Leisure. The park featured many rides, taking a target audience of families and younger children; however, the park also boasted numerous thrill rides and roller coasters, including Whirlwind, Knightmare and Excalibur.
The park was featured in a 1994 episode of Sooty & Co., in which presenter Matthew Corbett takes Sooty, Sweep and Soo there. On 4 November 2012, Camelot suddenly announced that they would not be reopening for the season of 2013. The abandoned park was profiled in a Series 2 episode 1 of Hidden Britain by Drone.
History
The park opened in 1983 and was operating seasonally until the end of 2012. The park was based on the story of 'Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'. The local area was once covered by the largest lake in England Martin Mere, which was first drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank Hall in Bretherton.The story was that Sir Lancelot's parents King Ban of Benwick and his queen Elaine escaped to Lancashire from their enemies in France. Elaine went to help King Ban who had fallen and put Lancelot down on the shore of the lake, where he was abducted by nymph Vivian who vanished into the waters of the lake with him. Vivian brought up Lancelot, and when he went to King Arthur's court, he was knighted as 'Sir Lancelot of the Lake'.
Martin Mere has been locally known as the 'Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot' following the myth.
In 1986, the park was taken over by the Granada Group and operated by them alongside its now defunct sister parks American Adventure and Granada Studios Tour. In June 1998, the park was subject to a management buyout, in which the park went to Prime Resorts Ltd. Camelot had seen a downturn in attendance in later years, in 1995, Camelot's attendance was 500,000 visitors throughout the season.
In 2005, Camelot's attendance was only 336,204 visitors. In August 2006, in a survey of healthy food available at leading tourist attractions in the United Kingdom, Camelot came joint bottom, scoring only one point.
In February 2009, Prime Resorts announced that the park was in receivership, and would not reopen for the season of 2009. The hotel was bought by Lavender Hotels in March 2009, and in April 2009, it was announced that a buyer had been found for the park and that it would reopen in May 2009.
The theme park was purchased by Story Group, a construction company based in Carlisle and leased to Knight's Leisure who ran the park. The site's future remains uncertain, as the new owner is planning to redevelop the site. Current indications are that this will be a housing development.
Closure
The closure of the park was announced by its operator, Knights Leisure, on 4 November 2012, the managing director blaming poor summer weather and events such as London 2012 and the Diamond Jubilee for declining visitor numbers. Some roller coasters were sold, for example, the Whirlwind was relocated to Skyline Park in Germany, but others remained in the abandoned park.Future
As of , the park is still standing, albeit crumbling and having been damaged several times by arson and vandalism. Rides still stand on the site, though in February 2020, Knightmare was demolished and not sold to another park or sent for repair works.In August 2014, an application to build 420 houses on the site by owners Story Group was unanimously rejected by Chorley Council, with 261 public objections, as the development was not permissible within the Green Belt.
In August 2016, a second application to build two hundred houses on the site was announced. Plans have yet to be filed with Chorley Council; however, The Story Group had public consultations during July 2016 and is planning to move ahead.
In March 2018, plans for 195 homes at the site were scrapped.
All planning applications to date have been rejected by Chorley Council. Housing on the site has been heavily criticised by the local communities leading to doubt over what the future is for the former theme park.
Rides and shows
Rides and attractions
The following rides were operating at the time of the park's closure in 2012.| Colour | Target Audience |
| Thrill ride | |
| Family ride | |
| Children's ride |
Roller coasters
| # | Name | Opened | Description |
| 1 | Caterpillar Capers | A 'wacky worm' style big apple children's coaster, the ride was relocated to Gulliver's World in Warrington in 2013. | |
| 2 | Dragon Flyer | One of only two diesel-powered roller coasters in the World. Manufactured by S.C. Italy, this attraction loops the lower section of the park, in 2013, the ride's train was relocated to Pleasureland Southport, however, the track still stands rusting as of 2020. The second is located at Jannat Al-Ahlam in Oran, Algeria. | |
| 3 | Junior Dragon Coaster | A powered children's coaster, in 2013, the ride was relocated to Oakwood Theme Park. | |
| 4 | Knightmare | A custom Schwarzkopf / Gerstlauer roller coaster that pulled 5Gs. It was demolished in February 2020. | |
| 5 | Whirlwind | A Maurer Söhne Xtended SC 2000 spinning coaster, in 2014, the ride was relocated to Skyline Park in Germany. |
Thrill rides
| # | Name | Opened | Description |
| 6 | Excalibur 2 | A Fabbri Evolution. Named after the park's original Excalibur ride. A boy fell from it on 23 August 2011, and in 2013, the ride was relocated to Pleasureland Southport. | |
| 7 | The Galleon | A non-inverting pirate ship, in 2013, the ride was relocated to Pleasureland Southport. |
Family rides
| # | Name | Opened | Description |
| 8 | Dungeons of Doom | Small ghost train style dark ride | |
| 9 | Falcon's Flight | Zamperla rotating balloon race. In 2013, the ride was relocated to Gulliver's Land in Milton Keynes. | |
| 10 | Formula-K Go-Karts | Requires an extra charge. | |
| 11 | Jousting Knights Dodgems | Bumper cars located in the park's family entertainment centre. It was thought to be relocated to Oakwood Theme Park but was not due to cost. | |
| 12 | Kingdom in the Clouds | A Ferris Wheel overlooking the Knight's Valley area of the park, in 2013, the ride was relocated to Pleasureland Southport. | |
| 13 | Pendragon's Plunge | Set of three blue waterslides, taking riders from the entrance down to Knight's Valley, in 2013, two of the slides relocated to Gulliver's Kingdom in Matlock. The remaining slide historically failed to carry riders to the bottom and was decommissioned. | |
| 14 | Sir Lancelot's Chargers | An ornate two-tier carousel, in 2013, the ride was relocated to Pleasureland Southport. | |
| 15 | Camelot Cascade | The log flume ride, in 2013, the ride was relocated to Oakwood Theme Park in Wales. |
Children's rides
Shows
- Jousting Tournament – a live joust performed by Camelot's own Knights, led by an actor playing King Arthur and performed in the Avalon Arena. The park hosted the only full-time jousting arena in the United Kingdom.
- Merlin's Magic Show – performed in Merlin's castle, this show demonstrated 'Merlin's magical skills'.
- Merlin's School of Wizardry – performed in Merlin's castle, Merlin's School of Wizardry taught some of Merlin's magic to the audience.
- Birds of Prey Show – performed daily in the Avalon Arena, featuring an African fish eagle.
Other defunct attractions
Past rides
Past shows
- Cats Of The Round Table – an animatronic show that was near the front of the park.
- Sooty and the Dragon – a puppet show to do with a popular puppet.
Accidents
- On 22 October 2001, Harry Mathews, a park employee, was struck by The Gauntlet roller coaster and was killed whilst repairing the tracks. The park was fined £40,000, and charged £20,000 in costs in September 2003, as it had no written safety procedures for its staff.
- On 23 August 2011, a twelve-year-old boy fell 30 ft from the Excalibur 2 ride. He survived but suffered serious injuries.