Covering 40 acres, this camp was originally established in the 1920s by Howard Barrett within the extensive grounds of his home, Pakefield Hall. Initially a simple tented campsite, it was rebuilt in the 1930s with wooden chalets and renamed Pakefield Hall Holiday Camp. Facilities included tennis courts, bowling greens, and a putting green, while the chalets were basic, offering little more than a bedroom. All meals were served in a communal dining hall, and evening entertainment was provided in the large dance hall, featuring a resident band.
In December 1938, the camp took on a more serious role, temporarily housing over 600 Jewish refugee children fleeing Nazi Germany. Built for summer use only, the chalets were unheated, and water pipes quickly froze. The rector of Pakefield described conditions as “terrible.” Within a few days, the children were relocated to local schools and hotels better equipped to accommodate them.
By 1939, the camp had also restored an old tavern on the grounds, intended to recapture the “rollicking atmosphere of the days of Pakefield smugglers,” adding a touch of historical charm for visitors. During World War II, the camp was requisitioned for military use, as were many holiday sites along the coast. It finally reopened to the public in 1946.
The old lighthouse
Within the camp grounds stands an old decommissioned lighthouse, dating from the 1830s, complete with its attached keeper’s cottage. In the 1930s, it was converted into a bar, with the lantern room repurposed as a sunbathing area for guests. Over the decades, the lighthouse has served a variety of roles, including a photography darkroom and staff accommodation, reflecting the camp’s evolving needs.
Nearby lies a spot known as Crazy Mary’s Hole, still marked on modern maps. According to local legend, it is haunted by the ghost of a woman who waits eternally for her husband to return from the sea. Sightings of her date back to the First World War, when soldiers stationed on the cliffs reportedly refused to patrol alone for fear of encountering her spectral figure.
In 1957 the camp was sold to Pontins, becoming the 10th camp in their growing empire. The following year a floodlit outdoor swimming pool was built.
In 1959, a 600-ton ship caught fire just off the coast, prompting the camp to be evacuated amid fears that the vessel might explode. The camp secretary later remarked, “I’ve never seen a holiday camp empty so quickly.”
During the 1960s, the camp underwent a major modernization. Most of the old wooden chalets were replaced with brick structures, each featuring en suite bathrooms, and the swimming pool was enclosed within a new building.
The camp remained popular for decades, retaining its nostalgic holiday camp charm thanks to its smaller size and single-storey chalets. It always operated as a full-board camp, providing 3 meals a day to guests, later switching to half-board with breakfast and dinner only. The chalets were hotel-style, basically just a bed and bathroom.
By the 1990s, the Pakefield camp, like many of the remaining Pontins sites, was looking a bit rundown. In 1996, Pontins launched a £55 million refurbishment program, though the investment was spread across eight camps. But several new facilities were added and some of the chalets were refurbished.
In 2008 Pontins changed hand for £46 million to a company called Ocean Parcs, a consortium led by Graham Parr, a former Pontins executive. The new owners talked big, unveiling ambitious plans for sweeping changes and a £50 million refurbishment programme. In reality, little materialised. Standards continued to slip, investment failed to appear, and by 2011 the company collapsed into bankruptcy. Pontins was sold Britannia Hotels for £18.5 million. They soon accused the previous owners of “milking it for money” and displaying “tremendous arrogance.”
Britannia have since been blamed for everything that went wrong with Pontins. In truth, they inherited a bunch of rundown camps that had suffered years of under investment. Restoring the sites fully would have required an enormous outlay that made little financial sense. To their credit, Britannia did invest several million pounds, refurbishing chalets with new furniture, fresh paint, updated windows, and new flooring. The entertainment buildings were refreshed and acres of new carpet was installed. Yes, it was all done “on the cheap” but under Britannia, the camps were all looking far better than they had in years, and showing clear signs of investment.
However, they largely continued the long-standing policy of pitching the camps at the budget end of the market, But the low prices left little margin for cleaning, maintenance, or future investment. The business model simply was not sustainable and in the early 2020s Pontins closed 4 camps leaving just Pakefield and Sand Bay remaining in the once-mighty Pontins empire
Sadly it wasn’t to last and in January 2025, Pontins announced the closure of Pakefield following a deal to house 500 construction workers for the nearby Sizewell C nuclear power plant project. By April 2025, 20 staff members had been made redundant, and work began to refurbish the facilities for the new occupants. The long-term future of the camp remains uncertain.
Pakefield Hall still stands next door as a private residence, and the lighthouse was restored in the 2000s.
To read more about Sir Fred Pontin and the history of Pontins Holiday Camps read our blog post here. We’ve also covered the history of several other Pontin camps which can be seen in our A-Z blog index.
We’d love to hear your stories and memories of Pontins Pakefield. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
