Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park

Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park

Crinkley Bottom theme park in 1994
Location	Cricket St. Thomas, Somerset, England, UK
Status	Defunct
Operated	1967 to 2009
Previous names	Crinkley Bottom at Cricket St Thomas (1994-1996)

Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park was an amusement park and zoo located in Cricket St. Thomas, Somerset, England, UK.

History

In 1967 the owners of the Cricket House estate opened to the public featuring a variety of animals. Over the proceeding years they expanded building shops, restaurants, and a miniature railway.

In 1993 a deal was struck with the owners of the popular BBC TV show Noel's House Party. In 1994 the park reopened under the name Crinkley Bottom at Cricket St Thomas, and was themed around the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom from the TV show. It was commonly referred to as Blobbyland after the main character in the show, Mr Blobby.

Due to declining popularity of Noel's House Party, the show and the park ended their agreement and in 1997 the park was renamed back to Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park with all mentions of Mr. Blobby removed.

In 1998 the park was acquired by Warner Holidays who removed many of the attractions, and converted the country house into a hotel, which continues to operate to this day. The site continued to be operated as a hotel and zoo until the closure of the zoo in 2009. The miniature railway continued to operate until the end of the 2013 season when it was closed due to reliability issues, with the engine sold and the tracks removed the following year.

Attractions

Defunct

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
TV's Family Favourites	W.G.H. Transportation Engineering	Boat Ride	1995	1998	Relocated to Watermouth Family Theme Park and Castle
Victorian Carousel	Thomas Walker	Carousel	1991	2001	Relocated to Crealy Adventure Park & Resort
Miniature Railway	Unknown	Miniature Railway	1984	2013	Defunct