A THEME Park in Lancashire which had its heyday in the 80s and had been left to rot for over a decade has now been largely razed to the ground, but not before letting in the Zombies for special fright night events.
Camelot Theme Park was a popular resort which opened in Chorley in 1983, but was abandoned, like many other stunning sites, in 2012 following a decline in visitor numbers.
The theme park was built around the well-known lore of King Arthur’s Court of Camelot (no, not the lottery tickets) and was believed to have been constructed on a large reclaimed body of fresh water that was named in Arthurian legend – it was the reason Lancelot was knighted as ‘Sir Lancelot of the Lake’.
The park changed hands many times over the years but visitor numbers started to plummet from 2.5million a year in 1987 to just 500,000 in 1995.
By 2009 annual visitor numbers were below 300,000 and three years later it was permanently shuttered.
Speaking of the closure in 2012 the park’s managing director at the time blamed poor summer weather and events such as the London Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee for declining visitor numbers.
Some of the rollercoasters were flogged off to other parks, but most were left to rot, with some only being finally removed in the last few years.
Several proposals were put forward to transform the abandoned tourist attraction into houses over the years, but the council repeatedly rejected them due to worries about encroaching on nearby green belt land.
Before the demolishment frightening images captured within the deserted theme park reveal graffitied buildings and disassembled rides strewn across the premises, now corroded and in disrepair.
Nature has reclaimed the abandoned area, with overgrown trees surrounding the dilapidated buildings, adding an eerie touch to the already creepy scene.
With the park now largely bulldozed to the ground, it has had a small resurgence as the horrifying location of Scare City Experience which ‘Combines intricate set design with live actors and horrifying SFX to give you the fright of your life’.
As if there wasn’t enough petrifying stuff to see there already – although apparently the new experience, which ran in its current ghoulish guise until this month, was a scream!