Hope Square Breweries

The commanding profile of the old brewery buildings tower above Hope Square and harbourside cottages. Parts of the old brewery date back to 1252 when Hopehuse, as Hope Square was known then, was home to many private breweries attracted here by the plentiful supply of spring water from Chapelhay and barley from Radipole.

Over the years there have been 3 breweries in Hope Square but Devenish has been the biggest and longest surviving brewery of them all. Their first brewery was in 1462, when John Devenish was appointed supervisor of all brewers in the King's realm. In 1821, William Devenish first leased and then purchased the site in Hope Square and for the next 129 years the Devenish family dominated brewing in Weymouth. The family involvement with the brewery continued until the death of John Hoppus' son, John Herbert Clark Devenish in 1953.

In the last century, Hope Square was also the home of two other breweries, The Davis Brewery and the Groves Brewery. Levi Groves had bought the Brewery here in 1840 and by the end of the century 'John Groves and Sons Ltd' and Devenish were bitter rivals. This rivalry continued right up until 1960 when Devenish purchased the Groves Brewery and took over the entire site. In its hey day, over 100 people worked in the Devenish brewery including the Head Brewer who was responsible for maintaining the quality of the brew and the Maltster whose skill was to ensure that the malted barley was roasted to the right temperature to achieve a particular brew.

The working community also included many women and children, employed in the malt houses to unblock the grilled floors from dried barley rootlets and thus allow the hot air through. The work was hot, uncomfortable and monotonous.

In Victorian times up to 30 dray horses, who all had names beginning with D, pulled the carts that delivered Devenish beer to local pubs. The stables at the rear of Brewers Quay provided employment for some 20 men working as grooms, blacksmiths and farriers. As well as providing shoes and tackle for the dray horses the blacksmiths also supplied iron hoops to the cooper who was responsible for producing thousands of water tight barrels for the brewery.

The Devenish brewery also employed its own signwriter. For centuries signs were hung outside shops and businesses to provide an indication of the trade of the occupant. In this century pubs have continued to display their identity in this way, with signs that often hold the key to the history of the locality.

On Sunday 11 August 1940 centuries of brewing tradition were temporarily halted when a World War II bomb severely damaged the Devenish brewhouse, hop store, laboratories, offices and copper house. Whilst the Directors feared that "it would not be possible to rebuild or brew for some considerable time" a unique collaboration between local brewers Groves and Eldridge Pope of Dorchester kept production going whilst repairs were effected.

Further damage occurred in May 1941 when an incendiary bomb burned off the roof of the bottling stores. However, the prompt action of the Weymouth and Hope Square Fire Brigades prevented the fire spreading and after the efforts of the employees in cleaning up, open air bottling was resumed after only a week.
By the 1980's, pressures to expand combined with the need to replace old and worn out equipment led to the decision to transfer the brewing operation to the company's more modern plant at Redruth in Cornwall. As a result the last kegs of beer left the Devenish Brewery in Hope Square on the 12th November 1985.

The regeneration of this historic area then began with an ambitious joint venture between Weymouth & Portland Council and J. A. Devenish plc to redevelop the 3 breweries, 4 malthouses, a bottling plant and associated environmental works. The new development, known as Brewers Quay was opened in June 1990 with the conversion of the malthouses and stables completed a few years after.