Abandoned UK theme park worth £800m to transform but not everyone's happy

Daily Mirror

03-07-2025

A huge theme park that once attracted half a million visitors in a single year has been left to rot for over a decade. However, it could soon be transformed into something completely different
A creepy, abandoned theme park that has been left to rot for 13 years could finally be handed a fresh breath of life.
Constructed back in 1983, and themed around the legends of King Arthur, the Magical Kingdom of Camelot attracted a staggering 500,000 annual visitors back in its heyday. Renowned for its grand white castle entrance, the theme park - which went through several ownerships - boasted several scream-inducing rides and roller coasters including Whirlwind and Excalibur.
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The Knightmare roller coaster, which came to the park towards the end of 2006, is believed to have cost £3 million to build - and quickly became one of the most beloved attractions at the park. However, as the years went on - Camelot's popularity started to plummet.
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By 2005, the theme park, located in Chorley, Lancashire, was only attracting around 336,000 annual visitors - and in 2012, it closed to the public for good. Experts over at Together Money, who offer mortgage and loan products, valued Camelot Theme Park - which sits on some 140 acres - at a whopping £800 million.
It's therefore no surprise the abandoned site has attracted the attention of property developers, namely Story Homes who want to build a huge housing estate on the land. The company applied to bulldoze the theme park and build similar schemes back in 2017 and 2019, but both applications were refused over objections on the use of greenbelt land.
However, developers have submitted a fresh application to Chorley Council outlining their plans to construct a mega residential development. This consists of up to 350 homes (50 per cent of which would be classed as affordable), a 186.9 square metre community hub, along with 'associated habitat creation, landscaping, open space, parking, footpaths, cycleways, drainage and other infrastructure'.
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"The vision for the site is to deliver a development that provides an exceptional quality of place, underpinned by the highest standards of design and sensitive placemaking," the supporting planning application statement reads. "The proposed development will deliver the homes that people need, responding to the acute housing and affordability crisis in the Borough by delivering the type, tenure and quality of market and affordable housing, alongside community infrastructure, that will create and support a new community.
"The vision for the site is supported by a generous landscape led masterplan that respects the wider Green Belt and woodland context and provides new green spaces, green infrastructure and habitats as a fundamental element of a new landscape framework."
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At the time of writing, the planning application has received a dozen public comments - with the overwhelming majority slamming the proposals. One furious resident said it would 'destroy' the local villages, adding: "There's absolutely no benefit to this except a money grab for a small group of people. This needs rejecting permanently what an absolute disgrace."
They argued such construction would 'destroy wildlife, overload services, increase traffic and lower village house prices'. Another agreed, scathing: "I formally object to the proposed development of 350 houses on the grounds of its significant and detrimental impact on the local area. The development would dramatically increase vehicle traffic on narrow, rural roads that aren't designed to accommodate such volumes. This would lead to a rise in noise pollution and pose safety risks to pedestrians, cyclists, and existing residents."
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Others argued the development would put too much constraint on local amenities and lead to overcrowding - suggesting the site should be turned into a leisure development instead. However, not everybody seemed to disagree with the application.
One person commented: "There are too many keyboard warriors who don't know the facts and basically don't want any more housing in the area. As long as the development is sympathetic to the local nature, I think it is an ideal use of a brownfield site."
First Homes has published noise impact, air quality, transport, and preliminary roost assessments - along with documents detailing its ecological appraisal. All of these can be viewed here.
The application was validated on Friday, June 20, 2025, and is currently awaiting decision.