About the town » Dawley, Telford and Wrekin, England, Great Britain

Dawley is a small town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. Today it forms part of the new town of Telford (which was originally, in 1963, going to be named Dawley New Town before it was decided in 1968 to name the town Telford instead after the engineer and road builder Thomas Telford). Dawley is however one of the older settlements in Shropshire, being mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is divided into Dawley Magna ("Great Dawley") and Little Dawley (also shown as Dawley Parva on older maps). The town's main parish is officially called Great Dawley - Dawley Hamlets is a separate parish, which covers Little Dawley and other neighbouring villages/suburbs. The nearest railway station is Telford Central. Historically, the Great Western Railway maintained a line that passed through the parish, going through the tunnel at Heath Hill. This is currently part of Telford Steam Railway's expansion project