Alexandra Gardens sit on the Esplanade at the southern end of Weymouth Beach, between the seafront and the harbour, and today they are the town’s amusement centre: an arcade and a small set of fairground rides in a formal garden setting.
The name is older than the arcade.
Alexandra Gardens Concert Hall opened on this site in 1924 — a proper seaside theatre with a resident company, in the tradition of the pierrot pavilions and concert parties that were the standard entertainment of the English resort.
It was converted into an amusement arcade in 1963, as the audience for seaside variety collapsed and the arcade trade took over. The building was destroyed by fire in 1993, and the present structure — the Electric Palace Amusement Arcade — replaced it.
That trajectory, from concert hall to arcade to fire to arcade again, is a compressed history of the English seaside in one building.
The arcade — a large one, with modern machines, prize games, air hockey and, crucially, a substantial bank of 2p push machines, which are the thing families actually play.
Rides — a small number of outdoor fairground rides, including a carousel and children’s attractions.
The gardens themselves — lawns, beds and benches around the arcade, facing the sea.
The tone of the reviews is warm and specific, and two things come up repeatedly.
It is not overpriced. For a seafront arcade in a resort town, that is a genuine compliment and it comes up often. The rides are described as cost-effective, and the 2p machines are, as ever, the cheapest sustained entertainment in England.
The rides are well maintained and clean, and the staff get named and thanked in reviews — which is unusual for an amusement arcade and says something about how it is run.
The other consistent theme is that people come for an hour and stay for three, having spent more in the slots than they meant to and eaten too many doughnuts. That is the correct use of the place.
Free to enter the gardens and the arcade; machines and rides are paid.
Time: an hour or two.
Location: the Esplanade at the southern end of Weymouth Beach, five minutes from the harbour and immediately on the seafront.
Facilities: doughnuts, coffee, toilets; everything else along the Esplanade.
Season: the arcade runs year-round with reduced winter hours; the outdoor rides are seasonal and weather-dependent.
Access: the arcade is level and accessible.
Parking: the Esplanade and town car parks, busy in summer.
Weymouth Beach is directly in front.
Weymouth Harbour and the seventeenth-century waterfront are five minutes south.
The statue of George III is at the end of the Esplanade.
The Jubilee Clock, Weymouth’s landmark, is on the seafront a little to the north.
Nothe Fort is fifteen minutes’ walk round the harbour.
The Alexandra Gardens Concert Hall, opened in 1924, converted to an arcade in 1963 and destroyed by fire in 1993. The present Electric Palace replaced it.
No — visitors consistently describe both the rides and the machines as reasonably priced for a seafront arcade.
A small number of outdoor fairground rides, seasonal and weather-dependent, alongside the arcade.
Yes — the gardens and arcade are free to enter; you pay for machines and rides.
On the Esplanade at the southern end of Weymouth Beach, five minutes from the harbour.