Devenish Brewery

Brewers Quay is a converted Victorian brewery near the Old Harbour in Weymouth, Dorset, southern England. It was formerly the Devenish Brewery and then was an indoor shopping complex with around twenty specialty shops together with heritage and science exhibits, until it was closed in 2011. The front of Brewers Quay is Hope Square, which holds a range of cafes, bars, bistros, whilst close by is the Tudor House Museum, and facing out to sea is Nothe Fort and its gardens. Brewers Quay has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1974.

Beer was brewed on the site for hundreds of years, since at least 1252. It was the chosen as the site for a brewery as water was close by coming from a spring at Chapelhay and nearby at Radipole there were barley fields. In 1742 the brewery was owned by the Flew family before the Devenish family took over the entire site at the building in the 1820s and they continued brewing beer here up until 1985. There were three separate breweries in the area for many years; the smallest, Davis Brewery, ceased working in the early 19th century, and Groves continued until 1960 when it was incorporated with Devenish. Once the brewery closed in 1985, the building was transformed. The Warehouse Theatre in nearby Hope Street was formerly used as the main coal storage for the Devenish Brewery. Within Brewer's Quay, at the top of the building, there was an exhibition of brewing, which told the building's seven hundred years of brewing history, and of the Devenish family and their nearby rivals.

During the late 20th century, the building was subject to major adaptation via co-operation between the Local Authority and the owners, as part of a general upgrading of the whole area. A shopping centre was established with a pub and restaurant, along with over 20 specialist shops, from hand-made crafts, jewellery, glassware, books, cards, confectionery, children's toys, art and autographs to various other gifts.

The complex was hailed as "the Covent Garden of Dorset" when it was opened in 1990 as the fulcrum of rejuvenation of the old brewery and harbourside. Soon after opening, the complex won the Come to Britain Trophy, a major commendation from Business and Industry, a Commitment to the Environment Award and a Civic Society award. In 2010 it was reported that an estimated 750,000 people visited the centre every year, compared to 100,000 in 1990.

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