Report - Camelot Theme Park, Charnock Richard - 10 Years Of Exploring The Knightmare

GRONK · Mar 1, 2023

Legend has it that there is a land, where knights battle for honour, where dragons fly through the air, where you can experience you wildest dreams or your darkest nightmare.

Camelot Theme Park was opened in 1983 under the ownership of Park Hall Leisure who also owned the neighbouring Park Hall hotel. The theme of the park was based on the story of 'Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’ this was because the local area was once covered by Martin Mere, sometimes described as the largest body of fresh water in England. 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 The 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. The park’s flagship rollercoaster “The Knightmare” could be seen from the M6 near the Charnock Richard Services until it was demolished in February 2020. 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 2009 season.

The Park Hall Hotel was purchased 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, Story Group still own the property to this day. 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 of the rides were sold, for example, the Whirlwind was relocated to Skyline Park in Germany, but others remained in the abandoned park.

The site's future is still uncertain, the new owner was planning to redevelop the site and build 6,294 homes on the 60 hectare site, however 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. 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. In December 2020, bulldozers were on site, demolishing a number of the structures that were considered unstable, including the iconic white castle entrance. By July 2021, the park had been dismantled and demolished, albeit having been crumbling away and damaged several times by arson and vandalism since the park’s closure in 2012. Parts of some of the rides and pieces of the park still stand on the site some of which were utilised in late 2022 for 'Camelot Rises' a pop-up scare attraction located on the site.