Once a bustling hub of laughter and adrenaline, a major UK theme park now sits in eerie silence, its rusting rides swallowed by encroaching Welsh countryside.
Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, which first opened its gates in 1987, thrilled generations of schoolchildren for almost four decades. However, in March 2025, its owners announced with "much sadness" that it would not reopen, confirming a permanent end to its operations.
The Unrelenting Economic Storm
The park's closure was driven by severe financial struggles, exacerbated by a declining number of visitors. In recent years, it had even been branded the "UK's worst theme park" by some disheartened guests.
Owner Aspro Parks, which took over Oakwood in 2008 and invested millions, cited an array of crushing economic pressures. These included soaring costs for ride parts, electricity, and food, alongside increases to the National Living Wage and changes to national insurance thresholds.
Despite initial hopes of a rescue, the site has now been closed and empty for over ten months. Many rides have been dismantled and removed, leaving behind empty plots and decaying infrastructure.
A Landscape Frozen in Time
Today, the park is a ghost of its former self. Security personnel patrol the site, which is equipped with counter-surveillance measures to deter trespassers.
Walkways and the skeletons of old attractions lie unused amidst overgrown vegetation. The iconic wooden rollercoaster, Megafobia, which opened in 1996 and was once a major draw for the park, now stands motionless.
Located just five miles from the busy town of Narberth, the dormant park presents a stark contrast to the lively visitor attraction it once was.
An Uncertain Future for the Site
As we move into 2026, the future of the Oakwood site remains completely unclear. The closure marks the end of a significant chapter for family tourism in Pembrokeshire.
The story of Oakwood serves as a sobering case study for the leisure industry, highlighting how a perfect storm of operational cost inflation and shifting visitor habits can bring even long-established attractions to a grinding halt.
