Weymouth Museum is a museum in Weymouth, Dorset, England. It was established in 1972 in the former Melcombe Regis Boys' School at Westham Road and moved to Brewers Quay, on the south side of Hope Square near Weymouth Harbour, in 1990. Although the building remains the museum's permanent home, it is currently closed as Brewers Quay is being redeveloped.
The Weymouth Museum of Local History was established in 1972 in the former Melcombe Regis Boys' School at Westham Road. In 1971, the former school was used to hold a temporary exhibition celebrating the 400th anniversary of the union of the towns of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. The following year saw the opening of a permanent museum in the building. [1] It had five permanent exhibition spaces covering the history of the town in chronological order and a sixth space for temporary exhibits. [2]
In 1987, the museum building was earmarked for demolition as part of plans for the area's redevelopment, including the forming of Weymouth Marina from part of the harbour. Following a period of uncertainty after its closure in 1989, the museum relocated to Brewers Quay, the former Devenish Brewery building that was in the process of being transformed into an indoor shopping complex by Devenish and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council. A 25 year agreement was signed by the Friends of Weymouth Museum and the museum's collection was moved to the new location. [3] [4]
Brewers Quay opened in June 1990 and Weymouth Museum initially operated alongside the Timewalk exhibition, which took visitors on a journey covering the town's history and maritime connections from the 14th century onwards. [5] The museum later separated from the exhibition in 1999 so that it could be converted into a charitable trust, and re-opened in 2000. [5] However, as Brewers Quay had been suffering operational losses since its opening, a succession of new owners of the building disrupted the museum's plans. [4] Brewers Quay was sold to a local investment group, Brewers Quay Investment LLP, in 2010, and the building then closed for redevelopment. [6] Space was set to be retained for the museum, however the new owners ultimately decided that their plans were not viable. Brewers Quay reopened primarily as an antiques emporium in 2013, which saw temporary space provided for the museum, which re-opened in December that year. [7]
Weymouth Museum closed again in 2016, with the Brewers Quay emporium closing in 2017. In January 2016, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council gave approval of Weymouth Museum Trust's plans to relocate and expand the museum within Brewers Quay as part of the building's wider redevelopment project. The trust revealed its intentions to gain some of the estimated £300,000 project cost from the Heritage Lottery Fund, while the council pledged £94,000. [8] [9] In March 2018, the museum reopened using temporary exhibitions to display a small proportion of its collection within Brewers Quay. The £300,000 redevelopment project was expected to be completed for a 2020 opening, but the plans stalled. [10]
On 30 May 2022, a temporary "pop-up shop" museum was opened in St Thomas Street and remained in use until 27 October 2023. [11] The redevelopment of Brewers Quay, which commenced in 2024, is due to be completed in 2026, with space reserved for the museum on the ground floor. [12]
Weymouth and Portland was a local government district with borough status in Dorset, England from 1974 to 2019. It consisted of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regis, Upwey, Broadwey, Southill, Nottington, Westham, Radipole, Chiswell, Castletown, Fortuneswell, Weston, Southwell and Easton; the latter six being on the Isle of Portland.
Nothe Fort is a fort in Weymouth, Dorset, England, situated at the end of the Nothe Peninsula, which juts eastwards from the town of Weymouth, and Weymouth Harbour, into the sea to the north of the ex-military Portland Harbour. The fort is located next to Nothe Gardens.
South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Lloyd Hatton, of the Labour Party.
The Weymouth Pavilion, formerly the Ritz, is a theatre in Weymouth, Dorset. The complex contains a 988-seat theatre, 600 (maximum) capacity ballroom known as the Ocean Room, the Piano Bar restaurant, Ritz Cafe and other function and meeting rooms.
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in Dorset, England existed from 1974 to 2019. One-third of the council was elected each year, followed by one year where there was an election to Dorset County Council instead. The council was abolished and subsumed into Dorset Council in 2019.
The Weymouth Harbour Tramway was a heavy rail line running entirely on the streets of Weymouth, Dorset, England from a junction to the north of Weymouth station to Weymouth Quay station at Weymouth Harbour. Built in 1865, it was last used for timetabled British Rail services in 1987 with the last special train running in May 1999. The line was dismantled in 2020-21. Street running tracks still remain but very little. The link to the mainline still exists, but only down to the street.
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset represented in the English House of Commons, later in that of Great Britain, and finally in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Union of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Act 1571 which amalgamated the existing boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Until 1832, the combined borough continued to elect the four Members of Parliament (MPs) to which its constituent parts had previously been entitled; the Great Reform Act reduced its representation to two Members, and the constituency was abolished altogether in 1885, becoming part of the new South Dorset constituency.
The Portland Branch railway refers to a group of lines on the Isle of Portland in the English county of Dorset. The first was the Portland Railway, a tramway with a counterbalanced rope-worked incline. It opened in 1826. It was followed by the Weymouth and Portland Railway, which connected to the main line of the Great Western Railway at Weymouth. It opened in 1865. From the late 1840s until 1872, Portland Breakwater was built, a prodigious construction task that created a very large safe harbour. It was decided to provide a railway connection to the breakwater, which was used as a pier for bunkering ships. This was constructed by the LSWR and the GWR jointly and opened in 1876. The fourth line was the Easton and Church Hope Railway. This line was conceived as a simple descent to bring stone down from quarries to a new jetty at Church Ope, but after their line was authorised in 1867, the Company delayed useful construction, and a change of plan followed, with several acts of Parliament authorising modifications to the route and extension of time. It finally opened in 1900.
Westham Halt was a small railway station in Westham on the Portland Branch Railway in the west of the English county of Dorset.
Elections to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in Dorset, England were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control as it has been since 1980.
Weymouth is a seaside town and civil parish in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, 7 miles (11 km) south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,416 in 2021. It is the third-largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole.
Weymouth Harbour is a harbour at the seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset, southern England. It has a 17th-century waterfront.
Brewers Quay is a converted Victorian brewery on the south side of Hope Square near the Old Harbour in Weymouth, Dorset, southern England. Much of the complex dates from 1903–04, when it was built as the Hope Brewery for John Groves & Sons Ltd. It was later taken over by Devenish Brewery in 1960 and opened in 1990 as an indoor shopping complex with around twenty specialty shops together with heritage and science exhibits, until it closed in 2010. From 2013-17, the building housed an antiques emporium. It currently awaits redevelopment.
The Timewalk was an exhibition and visitor attraction located in Brewers Quay, Weymouth, Dorset. It opened in 1990 and closed in 2010. One of Weymouth's most popular attractions, Timewalk took visitors on a journey covering the town's history and maritime connections from the 14th century onwards. It was told by the brewery cat, Miss Paws, and her eight feline ancestors. The attraction aimed to "recreate the sights, sounds and smells, of six hundred years of maritime history".
Devenish Brewery, also known as J. A. Devenish & Co. Ltd, was a brewery in Weymouth, Dorset, England, that was founded in 1821 by William Devenish. It primarily operated from Weymouth's Hope Square, but also had a facility at Redruth, Cornwall. Devenish was sold to Greenalls in 1993.
The 2010 Weymouth and Portland Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in Dorset, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
The Great Storm of 1824 was a hurricane force wind and storm surge that affected the south coast of England from 22 November 1824. The storm raged for two days.
Weymouth Guildhall is a former guildhall at Weymouth, Dorset, England. The building, which was constructed in the 1830s, is a Grade II* listed building.
Weymouth Old Town Hall is a former town hall at Weymouth, Dorset, England. The building, which was built with Portland stone in the 1770s, has been Grade II listed since 1953. The bell turret is believed to date from the 17th century. Since 2009, the hall has been operated for community use by the Guardians of the Old Town Hall.
Weymouth Bay Methodist Church is a Methodist church in Weymouth, Dorset, England. It was built in 2008–09 to replace the Maiden Street Methodist Church of 1866–1870 which was gutted by fire in 2002.