Butlin's Clacton was a

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation, primarily in the United Kingdom, that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term ...

located in

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea, often simply called Clacton, is a seaside town and seaside resort, resort in the county of Essex, on the east coast of England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District, wi ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It opened in 1938 and closed in 1983.

History

Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring

Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and was founded in 1871. It is a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

that attracted many tourists in the summer months between the 1950s and 1970s, but like many other British seaside resorts went into decline as a holiday destination since holidays abroad became more affordable. In 1936

Billy Butlin Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin (29 September 189912 June 1980) was an entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp.''#refRiverside, American Heritage Dictionary 2004'', p. 135.#refScott2001, Scott 2001, p. 5. ...

made moves to create a new holiday camp there, by buying and refurbishing the West Clacton Estate, an amusement park to the west of the town. After gaining the support of the local council, construction began and the camp opened on 11 June 1938. During the War years, all the Butlin's camps were requisitioned by the Government. Clacton was originally planned to be used as a POW camp, but it was spared this indignity and was used as a training site for the pioneer corps. However, during its occupation, the camp suffered significant damage and substantial repairs had to be carried out to put the camp back into operation. It reopened to the public in 1946. In 1972, the Butlin's organisation was bought by the Rank Group. The Clacton camp was open until 1983 when due to

package holiday A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ...

s and changing tastes, the holiday camp was closed and sold to a group of former departmental managers at the camp who reopened it as a short-lived theme park called Atlas Park. Atlas Park only lasted a year and the land was then sold and redeveloped with housing.

References

{{Butlins Clacton 1938 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England Clacton-on-Sea