| Dawlish | |
|---|---|
 The seafront at Dawlish | |
  Dawlish Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 15,257 (2021 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SX963767 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DAWLISH |
| Postcode district | EX7 |
| Dialling code | 01626 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°34′52″N3°27′58″W / 50.581°N 3.466°W /50.581; -3.466 | |
Dawlish/ˈdɔːlɪʃ/ is aseaside resort town andcivil parish in theTeignbridge district ofDevon, England. It is located on the south coast, 12 miles (19 km) south of the city ofExeter and a similar distance from the town ofTorquay. At the2021 census, it had a population of 15,257, which was 16% more than the 13,161 recorded in2021.[3] Dawlish had grown in the 18th century from a smallfishing port into a seaside resort, as had its near neighbour,Teignmouth, in the 19th century.
Dawlish is located at the outlet of a small river,Dawlish Water (also calledThe Brook), between Permian red sandstone cliffs, and is fronted by a sandy beach with theSouth Devon Railway sea wall and theRiviera Line railway above. Behind this is a central public park,The Lawn, through which Dawlish Water flows.
Immediately to the south-west of Dawlish is a headland, Lea Mount, with Boat Cove at its foot and Coryton Cove, the furthest part of the beach accessible by the sea wall path behind it. To the north-east, via the beach or sea wall, the coast can be followed for around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to Langstone Rock and the resort ofDawlish Warren beyond.
Dawlish is also known for itsblack swans (Cygnus atratus), introduced from Western Australia, which live with other exotic waterfowl in a small urban sanctuary on Dawlish Water.[4] There are several attractions in and around the town, including beaches, safari mini-golf, a waterfowl centre, a theatre, a leisure centre with a pool, a countryside park and the Dawlish Museum.
The nameDawlish derives from a Welsh river name meaningblack stream. There was also a Roman translation of Dolfisc, meaning 'Dark river' and 'The Devils Water'. It was first recorded in 1044 asDoflisc. By 1086, it wasDovles; in 1302,Dovelish; and by 1468 it had become the more recognisableDawlisshe.[5]
Before Dawlish itself was settled, fishermen and salt makers came down from the higher ground where they lived, to take advantage of the natural resources available on the coast hereabouts. They builtsalterns to produce salt and stored it in sheds nearby. The unpredictable nature of the stream,Dawlish Water, during floods is likely to have led to nearbyTeignmouth being the preferred site for salt-making, and the practice stopped at Dawlish during theAnglo-Saxon period (400–1000 CE).[6]
The earliest settlement at Dawlish grew up almost a mile away from the coast, around the area where the parish church is today.[7] There is evidence of early settlements at Aller Farm, Smallacombe, Lidwell and at Higher and Lower Southwood, where the ground would have been fertile and not subject to flooding.[6]
The land that includes present-day Dawlish was granted byEdward the Confessor to Leofric, later the firstBishop of Exeter, in 1044. After the Norman Conquest, Leofric gave the land to theDiocese of Exeter, which held it until it was sold,[8] in 1802.
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Little of note happened at Dawlish until the end of the 18th century,[8] when seaside locations on the south coast started to become popular with the wealthy, mainly caused byGeorge III makingWeymouth inDorset his summer holiday residence from 1789. In May 1795, the antiquarian and topographerJohn Swete spent some time in Dawlish and reported that, although not long ago it had been no more than a fishing village and the best lodging house would not cost more than half a guinea per week, it was now so fashionable that "in the height of the season, not a house of the least consequence is to be hired for less than two guineas a week, and many of them rise to so high a sum as four or five."[10]
In the first decade of the 19th century, the land between the original settlement and the sea was "landscaped"; the stream was straightened, small waterfalls were built into it, and it was flanked by a broad lawn and rows of new houses: The Strand on the north side and Brunswick Place on the south. The layout survives remarkably unchanged today,[7][11] despite severe damage from a torrent of water coming down Dawlish Water from theHaldon Hills on the night of 10 November 1810.[8]
Also worth noting are Manor House and Brook House (both about 1800) and some of the cottages in Old Town Street surviving from the old village. Dawlish's transformation from a fishing settlement to a watering hole for Victorian celebrities is documented at the Dawlish Museum.
In 1830,Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed anatmospheric railway, which operated on apneumatic principle,[12] using a 15-inch iron tube. One of thepumping stations was in this town. The line ran right along the seafront, but Brunel ensured that the line was carried across the mouth of the stream on a small granite viaduct, leaving access to the beach.[7]
The railway opened on 30 May 1846 betweenExeter St Davids andNewton Abbot. The first passenger train ran in September 1847, but the project was besieged with problems mainly with the leather sealing valve; after 12 months of use, it needed replacing at a cost of £25,000.South Devon Railway directors abandoned the project in favour of conventional trains.
After visitingSidmouth in 1801,Jane Austen spent a long holiday at Dawlish in 1802, later complaining about its "particularly pitiful and wretched library."[13] She mentioned it several times in her 1811 novelSense and Sensibility.[14] In Charles Dickens'Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), the protagonist inherits a small farm near Dawlish. The novelist and poetMargaret Holford died in Dawlish on 11 September 1852, aged 84. On 23 March 1818, the Romantic poetJohn Keats walked the three miles from Teignmouth to Dawlish to visit the Easter Monday fair and subsequently wrote a poem entitledDawlish Fair, which details a fantasy of seducing a Devon woman.
Dawlish railway station, situated in the town centre and next to the beach, is served by twotrain operating companies:
The line includes one of the most memorable stretches of British track for its natural environment, but at high cost; a constant battle with seaerosion makes it one of the dearest lines in the country to maintain.[17][18][19] For example, a storm in 1974 washed away much of the station's down platform;[20][21] also, in theUK storms of January–February 2014,waves brought down the sea wall and washed away a section of line, leaving the permanent way suspended.[22]
The 2014 storm raised questions about the vulnerability of theSouth Devon Railway sea wall to storm damage and proposals were made to route Plymouth-bound rail services further inland; these were reopening thedisused railway line via Okehampton and Tavistock, reopening the formerTeign Valley Line or reviving a 1930s GWR project to construct theDawlish Avoiding Line.[23] In May 2019,Network Rail began a project to improve the sea defences along the sea wall at Marine Parade, south of the station, promising a wider, more accessible walkway with seating and lighting, and greater protection from the sea;[24] it was completed on 3 July 2023.[25]
TheA379 road betweenExeter, Teignmouth,Torbay,Dartmouth andPlymouth runs through the town, parallel to the railway line.
Buses in the town are operated predominantly byStagecoach South West. Key routes are:[26]
Dawlish has a mild, oceanic climate bordering on a warm to coolMediterranean climate, according to theKöppen climate classification, with low precipitation in the summer period and high rainfall in the winter. Often termed the "English Riviera" along with Teignmouth and Torbay, Dawlish rarely has snow or frost and grows outdoor subtropical plants such as palms, olives, bananas and lemons.[27] Temperatures over 30C or under 0C are infrequent. It is one of the sunniest places in Britain, with an average of nearly 1,800 hours a year. Despite more favourable conditions in the summer, the wet autumn and winter can bring copious amounts of rain; when areas of low pressure move up theEnglish Channel, easterly winds with dramatic storm surges and waves along the seafront.[28]
| Climate data for Dawlish | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.3 (48.7) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.2 (55.8) | 16.2 (61.2) | 19.4 (66.9) | 21.3 (70.3) | 21.1 (70.0) | 19.0 (66.2) | 15.9 (60.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 10.3 (50.5) | 14.8 (58.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.0 (39.2) | 3.8 (38.8) | 4.6 (40.3) | 6.1 (43.0) | 8.8 (47.8) | 11.7 (53.1) | 13.5 (56.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 11.9 (53.4) | 9.7 (49.5) | 6.3 (43.3) | 4.9 (40.8) | 8.2 (46.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 96 (3.8) | 77 (3.0) | 69 (2.7) | 50 (2.0) | 55 (2.2) | 47 (1.9) | 45 (1.8) | 58 (2.3) | 60 (2.4) | 77 (3.0) | 77 (3.0) | 95 (3.7) | 854.2 (33.63) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 18 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 169 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 64.4 | 80.1 | 126.0 | 175.8 | 213.8 | 218.3 | 222.6 | 202.1 | 158.8 | 108.4 | 82.2 | 64.4 | 1,717 |
| [citation needed] | |||||||||||||
During the early and middle part of the 20th century, Dawlish became known for Devon Violets perfume. Hundreds of varieties were grown in market gardens surrounding the town. Violet escapees can be found growing wild across the area. Lately the town has become known for growingdianthus,freesias,daffodils,tomatoes andstrawberries.[citation needed]
Centred on The Strand, Queen Street, Brunswick Place and Park Road, Dawlish has typical retail facilities for a resort town with gift shops, cafes, a fishing tackle shop, beach/toy shops, bakeries, restaurants and pubs, haberdasheries, ice-cream shops includingGay's Creamery, national chains and independent retailers. Along Piermont Place, by Dawlish station and the sea front, are further ice-cream shops, a restaurant, a cafe and a sports-bar with outdoor seating areas. In recent years, a number of art, craft and antiques shops have opened. At the north-eastern end of the town, there is aSainsbury's supermarket with anArgos outlet and a petrol station.
The largest employment sector in the town is health and social work (23%), due to a large number of care homes, followed by accommodation and food services (20%).
The town's places of worship are:
The primary schools in Dawlish are:
Dawlish College, formerly Dawlish Community College, in Elm Grove Road, is the main secondary school.[37]
Oakwood Court College is a specialist residential college based in Dawlish, with a satellite college inTorpoint.[38]
Locally, Dawlish is governed by Dawlish Town Council, which is currently controlled by theLiberal Democrats, as is the next local-government layer above,Teignbridge District Council. Dawlish lies in theparliamentary constituency ofNewton Abbot, represented since 2024 byMartin Wrigley of the Liberal Democrats.
Dawlish istwinned with theBreton commune ofCarhaix-Plouguer in France.[39]
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Travel guides from Wikivoyage
Data from Wikidata| International | |
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| National | |
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