A once-vibrant and lively adventure park, teeming with animals and the laughter of children, now stands as a derelict shell of its heyday.
Brocklands Adventure Park was a much-loved attraction in Kilkhampton, Cornwall, welcoming visitors from 1977 until it shut its gates for good in 2007.
Since its establishment by Dennis and Sue Vanstone, the park scooped a host of prestigious accolades. At its height, it drew in 50,000 visitors each season, having evolved from a modest tea room and shop into a fully-fledged leisure destination.
It grew into a vast complex of playgrounds, rides, animal enclosures and wildlife programmes.
In 1987, it was rebranded as Pixieland Funpark. By 1990, the park had introduced a 15-inch gauge miniature railway, pony rides, trampolines, and an all-weather playground.
In March 1997, further expansion saw the unveiling of Pip’s Place, a brand-new restaurant capable of seating 200 guests, reports Cornwall Live.
The buildings are now rotting (Image: StreetZips/YouTube)
Further attractions were added, including a ten-pin bowling alley, an archery centre, crazy golf, quad biking, bumper boats, and a mega tube slide.
Every corner of the animal kingdom was represented, with rabbits, ducks, iguanas, snakes, parrots, and even a raccoon all calling the park home.
In 2000, the park was rechristened Brocklands Adventure Park, cementing its status as a fully-fledged theme park.
The park will now be turned into houses (Image: StreetZips/YouTube)
Despite its remarkable success, the park sadly closed its doors in 2007 following the retirement of its owners. Today, vines and weeds have reclaimed the once-thriving site.
Wandering through the derelict park and discovering an old archery range, the Youtube channel Street Zips said: « There are soap dispensers, we found a bow and arrow in here. There’re drawers here, we’ve got plugs and fuses – and smart plugs – one of the things that go on your wrist to stop you getting whacked by the bow.
« Listen-listen – can you hear it? Yeah like a rat is it – I heard a squeak. The rustiness of the drawers are really cool as well. You would pay a fortune for that for a movie set piece. «
They also discovered rodent trap boxes. They said: « They’ve obviously got an infestation of something here. That’s a serious trap isn’t it. There’s some spring on that. »
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The urban explorers came across a kiwi tree that was still producing fruit. Peering into what appeared to be a former animal enclosure, they spotted posters of creatures to watch for in the taxidermy display created « only of roadkill. »
They even discovered old pheasant feathers strewn across the floor.
The YouTubers found a giant animal trap (Image: StreetZips/YouTube)
Subsequently, in 2021 a development proposal aimed to convert a principal building into a two-bedroom home, and then in 2023 planning approval was secured to construct five houses on the location.
The steel structure will be converted into a two-bedroom home.
The planning submission said: « The site comprises part of the former visitor attraction known as Brocklands Adventure Park, which closed in 2007 and contained a range of attractions split across two sites (separated by West Street).
The Adventure Park closed in 2007 (Image: Planning application)
« These attractions included 15in gauge railway, ponds, slides, pony ride track, trampolines, quad biking, bouncy castle, bumper boats, bowling alley, indoor multi-activity centre and refreshment facilities.
« The proposal involves converting the existing steel frame building to form a two-bedroom dwelling. »
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