DAWLEY

'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'' ("Little Dawley") 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.
Dawley has a street market every Friday. Dawley town centre consists of a single pedestrianised street that was previously the main route from Bridgnorth in the south to Wellington in the north. The area around Dawley, not covered by Telford New Town, is rural and provides extensive opportunities for walking. The Ironbridge Gorge and The Wrekin are both pleasant walks from Dawley.
On the northern edge of Dawley is Malinslee where St. Leonards church stands. The design of St. Leonards, an elongated octagon, is said to have been influenced by Thomas Telford. Other churches supposedly influenced by Thomas Telford, during his work in Shropshire, are at nearby Madeley and Bridgnorth.

Contents

History

Famous residents

Dialect

See also

External links

History

There was a castle in Dawley, but it was demolished around 1648. The site is unknown, although the Castle Pools (on the old quarry site) and Castle Ironworks (built by the Darby family, one of whom commissioned the world famous Iron Bridge) possibly indicate the general area where it may have stood. Ironbridge is as short distance away.
Dawley was for over three centuries a mining town, both for coal and ironstone (if you are buying a house there, make sure your solicitor does a mining search as there are many abandoned mineshafts). Clay extraction for local industrial-pipe factories, brickyards and the pottery industry has been a major influence on the landscape. Prior to large scale levelling as part of the development of Telford New Town, the area was covered by clay mounts and large clay pits that dominated the landscape to the extent that they formed points of reference for the locals. There is still a local clay pipe factory in the adjacent Doseley village; grey clay predominates on the immediate outskirts of Dawley.
The adjacent village of Horsehay was the site of a bridge and later a crane fabrication factory that exported around the world. The bridge over Victoria Falls is said to have been built there. Telford Steam Railway trust is located across the road from the former factory site.

Famous residents

Dawley was the birthplace of Captain Matthew Webb who was the first man to swim the English Channel - his monument stands on the High Street. A famous photograph shows a pig standing up against a wall to watch the parade in Webb's honour that was held on his return.
Edith Pargeter, who under her pen name of Ellis Peters wrote the Brother Cadfael novels, went to school in Dawley. Numerous roads in Aqueduct, such as Cadfael Drive and Ellis Peters Drive, are 'themed' after her.

Dialect

Dawley is noted for its dialect which is largely unintelligible to those who are not familiar with it. The dialect differs greatly from the traditional Shropshire dialect and its use is confined geographically to Dawley and the immediate area and mostly to the older generation.
The Dawley dialect is not simply confined to colloquial words and an accent but also includes the morphing of words and some grammatical differences to traditional English. In the past, this has led to some discussion on whether the dialect could qualify as a language in its own right.
Some examples of the Dawley dialect:

★ How bist, jockey? = How are you mate? (To younger males)

★ How bist, cocker? = How are you mate?

★ Tha wouldstna = You wouldn't

★ Thee cunna = You can't

★ Bost = Broken

See also

★ Shropshire Revolution - American Football Team, based in Dawley

External links

★ Dawley Town Guide

★ Telford Steam Railway