Harbour & High Street – how Weymouth made its money

A new exhibition, telling the story of how Weymouth has made its money over the centuries has opened in the Weymouth Museum Pop Up

From the small fishing villages of Weymouth and Melcombe, the town grew by trading with France and Europe. Wool and corn were exported and wine was imported. Local fishing boats travelled as far away as the Newfoundland coast to bring in cod. Weymouth became a port for pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and for people going to colonise America. Strong links with the Channel Islands grew, as Weymouth was their most convenient English port.

Look along Weymouth Harbour today, and you can still see the signs of the port. There are old warehouses, the fish market, the former Customs House and the Harbour Master’s office. This exhibition tells the story of the Harbour through paintings and old photographs, and brings it up to today with an account of the revival of the Fish Market. Did you know that 40% of line-caught sea bass come ashore at Weymouth?

In the 1780s the town changed. Our gentle beach became known for sea-bathing, and King George III visited. Visitors followed and Weymouth became one of the first seaside resorts. The railway was opened in 1857 and the town grew again. Many more holidaymakers arrived, especially from towns like Swindon, where the railway works closed for a week in summer to allow thousands of workers to head to the seaside. In 1806 there were 118 lodging houses listed, in 1923 there were 239 B&Bs, guesthouses and rooms, and today there are around 800 – including Airbnb listings.

In this exhibition we look at how the town changed from a working port to a seaside holiday town. We tell the stories of the shops and businesses which have created today’s Weymouth. Tom Singh, the founder of New Look, tells us how he took the company from one shop in St Thomas Street to a nationwide chain store, Clive Garman and Marilyn Gosling talk about Sherrens – the printers and Weymouth’s oldest company, and hoteliers tell us about running hotels and B&Bs.

Discover the shops of the past through old advertisements, photographs and the items they sold, and take a trip down memory lane with the recollections of local residents. And we’d love to hear more from people working in Weymouth’s businesses today. Tell us about your company or your working lives and we’ll add it to the exhibition.

Weymouth Museum Trust is grateful for the support of Weymouth BID and Weymouth Town Council for developing this exhibition.

The Pop-Up Museum is open Tuesdays to Fridays, 10am to 2pm, plus Mondays 10.30am to 1.30pm and Saturdays 10am to 1pm.

The exhibition will run till 13th March.