Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford', after the engineer and road-builder Thomas Telford. Dawley now forms part of Telford whose town centre is north of Dawley itself. Dawley is one of the older settlements in Shropshire, being mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). It is divided into Dawley Magna ("Great Dawley") and Little Dawley (also shown as Dawley Parva ("Little Dawley") on older maps). Etymology The name Dawley comes from Old English meaning woodland clearing associated with a man called Dealla. Local government The town's main civil parish is officially called Great Dawley – its parish council is officially Great Dawley Town Council. Dawley Hamlets is a separate civil parish, which covers Little Dawley and other neighbouring villages/suburbs. Railways 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 tunnel is still used and is currently part of Telford Steam Railway's expansion project. It was also served by the single platformed station at Dawley and Stirchley railway station on the Coalport Branch Line which ran from Hadley to Coalport. It opened in 1860 but closed in 1952 and the trackbed including platform now form part of the Silkin Way. History Dawley is mentioned in the Domesday Book and is therefore one of the older settlements in Shropshire. 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. Prior to the landscaping that followed the creation of Telford New Town, extensive ruins were detectable next to the Castle Pools and are shown on old maps as being the location of the castle, but, in the 1980s, the whole area was buried under thick topsoil and planted with trees. Ironbridge is a short distance away. For over three centuries, Dawley was a mining town, both for coal and ironstone. Clay extraction, for local industrial-pipe factories, brickyards and the pottery industry, have been