Hope Square

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 2010. From 2013-17, the building housed an antiques emporium. It currently awaits redevelopment.

Much of Brewers Quay dates from 1903-04. It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1974. The building is located at Hope Square, which holds a range of cafes, bars, bistros, while close by is the Tudor House Museum, and facing out to sea is Nothe Fort and its gardens.

The site of Brewers Quay had been used for brewing since at least 1252. There was good access to spring water from Chapelhay, while barley fields were located at Radipole. By the 18th century, there were three separate breweries on the site; each being under the ownership of the Flew family, William Devenish and the Davis Brewery. In the early 19th century, the Flew family sold their brewery to Devenish, and in 1960, Groves also sold theirs to Devenish. Devenish continued to produce beer from Brewers Quay until 1985.

Following its closure, Devenish and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council launched a major plan to transform the now-vacant building into a shopping centre with a pub and restaurant. Devenish spent £4.5 million on refurbishing the building. Opened in June 1990, the new complex was hailed as "the Covent Garden of Dorset". The success of Brewers Quay resulted in various awards and commendations, including the Come to Britain Trophy, a Commitment to the Environment Award, a Civic Society award and major commendation from Business and Industry. 100,000 people visited the building in 1990, with the number increasing to 750,000 in 2010. The building also housed the award-winning Timewalk exhibition and in 1992, a hands-on science centre named Discovery was opened.

Plans for residential development at the site were scrapped after talks between Devenish and the council. Despite the success of the new shopping centre, Devenish suffered operational losses and ultimately decided to sell the building to Greenalls plc in the mid-1990s. A succession of owners followed, selling Brewers Quay approximately every 3-4 years. The site to Scottish & Newcastle in the late 1990s, to Spirit Group in 2004 and Punch Taverns in 2007. A lack of investment in the building since the early 1990s had resulted in growing repair costs, while the council refused to consider residential uses of the building. As a result, Brewers Quay was seen as unsaleable. Punch Taverns attempted a redevelopment plan, Brewery Quarter, in 2008. However, they failed to secure any interested developers or operators for the plans, which included the creation of a boutique hotel.

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Wikipedia