Camelot Theme Park

Camelot Theme Park was a 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 140-acre (0.57 km²; 0.22 sq mi) site^[1] near the village of Charnock Richard, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Chorley.

One of the rollercoasters can be seen from the M6 near the Charnock Richard Services. 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 (a Maurer Söhne spinning coaster), Knightmare and Excalibur.

The park was featured in an episode of Sooty & Co., in which presenter Matthew Corbett takes Sooty, Sweep and Soo there. During the 2012 season, Camelot suddenly announced that they would not be reopening for the 2013 season. ^[2]

History

The park opened in 1983, and was operating seasonally until late 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 is 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, by 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.^[3]

In 1986, it 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.^[4]

In 2005, Camelot's attendance was only 336,204 visitors.^[5] In August 2006, in an survey of healthy food available, at leading tourist attractions in the United Kingdom, Camelot came joint bottom scoring only one point.^[6]

In February 2009, Prime Resorts announced that the park was in receivership, and would not reopen for the 2009 season.^[7] The hotel was bought by Lavender Hotels in March 2009,^[8] and in April 2009, it was announced that a buyer had been found for the park and that it would reopen in May 2009.^[9][10]

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.^[1][11]

The closure of the park was announced by its operator, Knights Leisure, in November 2012, the managing director blaming poor summer weather and events such as London 2012 and the Queen's Jubilee for declining visitor numbers.^[2][12] Today, some rollercoasters were sold (for example Whirlwind bought by the German "Skyline Park"), others rust in the abandoned park.^[13]

In August 2014, an application to build 420 houses on the site by owners Story Group was unanimously rejected by Chorley Council, as the development was not permissible within the Green Belt. ^[14] As of September 2016, the park is still standing, albeit crumbling and having been attacked several times by arsonists. Rides that still stand on the site include the Knightmare rollercoaster.^[15]

Rides and shows

Camelot Theme Park Entrance & Go Kart Track

Rides and attractions

The following rides were operating at the time of the park's closure in 2012.

Roller coasters

Knightmare Ride, Camelot

Thrill rides

Family rides

Castle Entrance, Camelot

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 UK's only full-time jousting arena.
• 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

• Tower of Terror was a steel sit-down roller coaster manufactured by Schwarzkopf. It was removed in 2000 to make way for a Vekoma Invertigo, and also due to cost issues as the ride was leased along with the original Excalibur from the Bembom Brothers. However, planning permission was denied for this ride so the park was forced to replace the ride with a Pinfari ZL42, "The Gauntlet" (since closed). While the ride was being taken down, an expanding foam castle which was part of the rides theming was burned down when some sparks from a saw hit it. The ride itself was unscathed and after a brief period at Dreamland Margate it is now the Twist N' Shout located at Henk Bembom's now-closed Loudoun Castle (theme park).
• The Rack a Vekoma Canyon Trip. the only split level ride in Europe opened in 1994, in 2010 it was removed due to serious mechanical failure that was not economical to repair.
• Excalibur Was a Weber Dreamboat (Traumboot) and was removed with the Tower of Terror. It stood originally on the site of the Whirlwind, however the space the Tower of Terror originally took up was more than enough space for the replacement Gauntlet Pinfari roller coaster and the Excalibur 2 (Fabbri Evolution). This left a site vacant, which was later used for the Whirlwind
• Venom (Previously known as The Beast) was a steel powered dark-roller coaster. It was removed in 2005 due to increasing safety regulations with indoor roller coasters. While operated, the ride was enclosed inside a building and kept in the dark. When first opened, the ride was originally called "The Knightmare" and was an outdoor coaster. In 1985, a mountain theme was placed over "The Knightmare" and its name was changed to "Space Mountain". In 1988, the indoor coaster was renamed/re-themed "The Beast" and featured the best audio for the ride, before the train moved from the station. In the mid 1990s, "The Beast" was renamed "Venom". This building was removed in 2001 to make way for an extension to the Castle Camelot entertainment centre, which would have created an extended indoor entertainment centre including replacement ride. However, when it became apparent the park could close within the next few years the plans were largely scaled back, leaving room for the ride to stay. The building and ride were then rebuilt, but was themed as a snake, in a snakes lair. The ride is now owned by Williams Amusements and the castle was extended to include the new indoor entertainment centre and firstly a Rollerquest (Lasertag) attraction, and then Dodgems ride.
• The Sorcerer was a roller coaster manufactured by Pinfari. It was installed in 1995 however removed in 1997 to make way for The Quintain. The park also considered it too small a roller coaster and it was not as popular with guests as the park hoped. Its presence was faded by the ever popular Tower of Terror.
• The Quintain was a Huss Flipper and was removed before the 2006 season started and was replaced by a carousel. It was thought by many guests that the ride was not suitable for the target audience of the park.
• The Gauntlet, a Pinfari ZL42 Looping Rollercoaster. During 2002 and 2003 the ride experienced considerable downtime. After refurbishment of the trains and braking system the ride had 2 very good seasons. To further improve the ride a new train was purchased in 2005. The ride was then moved to make way for the Knightmare ride. The ride then operated at New Pleasureland in Southport for a short time. It has now been refurbished and rebuilt in the Marina Park, Varna, Bulgaria.
• Carousel, the smaller of the two Carousels in the park was removed after the 2006 season due to its age and being shaded by the much more extravagant carousel located close by. The Junior Galleon has been moved to the front of the Playland building to occupy the Carousel's central spot.
• Leverets, A small children's ride located at the side of the Rack (previous locations include: the side of the original Excalibur, and at the front of the park - under a different name). It was removed after the 2006 season due to the cars and track becoming unreliable. The ride was often closed when the park was open, and has been replaced by a gnome garden.
• Mad Monastery, a dark funhouse ride, situated at the back of the Playland area.
• Dragon Heights, was a spinning ride was opened in 1987. Three pink dragons located behind The Beast and rotated through 360 degrees, but did not turn upside down. It was a family version of the 'Rainbow' style magic carpet ride that was at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Dragon Heights was removed due to being unreliable.

Splashpool was located behind the white castle. and removed before the extension of the Indoor Entertainment Centre.

Past shows

• Cats Of The Round Table A 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.^[16] In September 2009, the park was fined £4 Million, as it had no written safety procedures for its staff.^[17]
• On 23 August 2011, a 12-year-old boy fell from the Excalibur 2 ride. He survived.^[18]

See also

• Incidents at European amusement parks

References

External links

• www.camelotthemepark.co.uk - Camelot Theme Park Official Website.