Camelot Theme Park owners discuss future of the ‘creepy’ abandoned site

Camelot Theme Park welcomed people from across the North West in its heyday, but sadly the site sits in a state of decay now.

Since it closed back in 2012, the derelict 140-acre former theme park site has stood empty, steadily falling into disrepair, leaving behind a post-apocalyptic scene of deserted rides and empty, overgrown features.

One side effect of this is that it’s become a hotspot for urban explorers, meaning there’s loads of footage and photographs of the creepy old park online.

It was never intended to become the abandoned memorial to its previous existence that now sits there, and the company who purchased the site had big plans.

Story Homes was set to redevelop the land and build 420 houses there after the theme park’s closure, with an application to Chorley Council submitted in January 2014.

This was refused because of the negative impact such a large scale development would have on the green belt, while a similar plan from Story Homes submitted in July 2017 for 195 homes was also refused due to green belt concerns – the site was also not an area identified for growth.

If the site was sold and turned into 6,294 apartments, experts have valued the land at a massive £793 million – sadly this would mean dismantling and demolishing the remaining rides, thus destroying the park’s history.

When it comes to the future of the former theme park site, Story Homes said they’re keeping options open. They told the Liverpool Echo: “Going forward we will consider our options in respect of development proposals for this site.”

They added: “The former Camelot theme park site is in a state of dereliction and we would deter anyone from accessing the site. We have a security team in place 24 hours a day to ensure the site it kept safe at all times.”

The company still maintains the site, performing essential maintenance like clearing vegetation when it poses a risk to overhead high voltage power cables.