Dear Sue, I believe Hope Square, Weymouth was bombed during the war. On Sunday 11th August 1940, many of the buildings including a large part of the Devenish Brewery were damaged by a WW2 bomb. In May 1941 incendiary bombs caused more damage including burning the roof of the Devenish Brewery's bottling plant. In the 1950's demolition took place of some of the buidings which had been war damaged. When the Devenish Brewery closed in 1985, the square was re-developed as Brewers Quay. Whether no. 1 was bombed or your aunt really did set light to it, I couldn't say - but it's great to have some of these family legends! Regards Vanessa Dorset ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Irvine" <sue.irvine@sky.com> To: <dorset@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 4:08 PM Subject: [DOR] Hope Square > Hi, > > My grandfather, Edward Gill, and his family are shown on the 1911 census > as living at 1 Hope Square, Weymouth. As a child in the 1950s I remember > there just being a small, triangular piece of land where number 1 Hope > Square would have been. > My father told me that one of his sister's accidentally burned down the > house by knocking over a lighted candle in her bedroom. However I think > this story is probably just family legend! > Would anyone on the list with an interest in local history know what > actually did happen to 1 Hope Square ? > > Many thanks, > > Sue Irvine