The 1980s ‘British Disneyland' that is now a housing estate

Independent

26-04-2025

Plans were established earlier this year for a major new Universal theme park to be built in Bedford, but this is not the first time that a huge project like this was once in the works.
In the 1980s, developers envisaged a theme park that was to be the British answer to the US ' successful Disney parks, putting £346m behind the project to build the park in Corby.
The park was to be called WonderWorld, with plans including 13 themed villages, hotels and rides designed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, according to the BBC.
A BBC Look East report from 1989 shows that the park was planned to be constructed on a 1,000-acre site in Weldon, around where Priors Hall Park is now, next to Corby.
The concept was initially created in 1980, but near the end of the decade, there was still nothing to show of the 'equivalent to America's Disneyland'.
Plans for a mock safari, a 10,000-seat stadium for indoor sports, a concert arena and a family resort with hotels were also floated to be included in the designs.
The video report from four decades ago shows the WonderWorld chairman handing over the keys to an international construction group to start work.
Plans were in place for a 39-month construction programme, hoping for an initial summer opening by 1992.
The report stated that WonderWorld would welcome four million visitors a year, with parking for seven thousand vehicles.
The park was also supposed to provide much-needed employment, with 2,000 jobs on site during construction, 1,000 full-time staff at the park and 350 seasonal workers.
Unemployment had risen in Corby following the 1980 closure of the steelworks, which led to 10,000 job losses and nearly a third of the town out of work.
Yet, the park wasn't built, and WonderWorld never opened its doors to the millions of visitors it was hoping for.
The park's blueprint was inspired partly by Disney's Epcot Park in Orlando, which opened in 1982 and features the distinctive large Spaceship Earth ride inside a spherical golf-ball-like structure – a defining trait of the park.
Around Spaceship Earth are lots of small 'villages', many modelled after different destinations around the world, from Mexico to the UK.
WonderWorld was also to have a themed village built around a central bowl, 700m in diameter, the BBC said.
A brochure promised "a unique resort set in beautifully landscaped surroundings", with an "accent very much on participation".
In 1985, one of the architects, Derek Walker, told the publication: "The basic ingredients [for WonderWorld] are very simple: entertainment at the very highest level. It's participatory and it's incredibly educational.
"[WonderWorld] will offer the best of British design."
Despite positive buzz around the project early on, rising costs, planning delays and difficulties in finding long-term funding all contributed to WonderWorld's downfall.
The only thing to show of the park was a large WonderWorld sign constructed at the site and a small wooden cabin, the BBC said.
While the park never came into fruition, more than 1,000 houses were built at Priors Hall Park, and there are now plans to build a further 5,000 on the site.