View source for Dawlish

{{Short description|Seaside town in Devon, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
|static_image_name = Dawlish_seawall_rebuild.jpg
|static_image_width = 240
|static_image_caption = The seafront at Dawlish
|country = England
|region = South West England
|shire_county = [[Devon]]
|shire_district = [[Teignbridge]]
|civil_parish = Dawlish  <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dawlish.gov.uk/ |title=Dawlish Town Council |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106145104/https://www.dawlish.gov.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
|official_name = Dawlish
|os_grid_reference = SX963767
|coordinates = {{coord|50.581|-3.466|display=inline,title}}
|population = 15,257
|population_ref = (2021 Census)<ref name="bua2011">{{cite web |title=Dawlish |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/teignbridge/E04003204__dawlish/ |website=City population |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref> 
|post_town = DAWLISH
|postcode_area = EX
|postcode_district = EX7
|dial_code = 01626
|constituency_westminster = [[Newton Abbot (UK Parliament constituency)|Newton Abbot]]
}}
'''Dawlish''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɔː|l|ɪ|ʃ}} is a [[seaside resort]] town and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Teignbridge]] district of [[Devon]], England. It is located on the south coast, {{convert|12|mi|km}} south of the city of [[Exeter]] and a similar distance from the town of [[Torquay]]. At the [[United Kingdom 2021 census|2021 census]], it had a population of 15,257, which was 16% more than the 13,161 recorded in [[United Kingdom 2021 census|2021]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dawlish (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/teignbridge/E04003204__dawlish/ |access-date=15 January 2025 |website=Citypopulation.de}}</ref>  Dawlish had grown in the 18th century from a small [[fishing port]] into a seaside resort, as had its near neighbour, [[Teignmouth]], in the 19th century.

==Description==
[[File:Dawlish Black Swans.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Black swans in Dawlish Water, 2010]]

Dawlish is located at the outlet of a small river, [[Dawlish Water]] (also called ''The Brook''), between Permian red sandstone cliffs, and is fronted by a sandy beach with the [[South Devon Railway sea wall]] and the [[Riviera 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 {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} to Langstone Rock and the resort of [[Dawlish Warren]] beyond.

Dawlish is also known for its [[black swan]]s (''Cygnus atratus''), introduced from Western Australia, which live with other exotic waterfowl in a small urban sanctuary on Dawlish Water.<ref>[http://www.dawlish.gov.uk/swans.php Black Swans and other waterfowl] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423011639/http://www.dawlish.gov.uk/swans.php |date=23 April 2015}}, Dawlish Town Council.</ref> 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.

==Toponymy==
The name ''Dawlish'' derives from a Welsh river name meaning ''black stream''. There was also a Roman translation of Dolfisc, meaning 'Dark river' and 'The Devils Water'. It was first recorded in 1044 as ''Doflisc''. By 1086, it was ''Dovles''; in 1302, ''Dovelish''; and by 1468 it had become the more recognisable ''Dawlisshe''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names |last=Watts |first=Victor |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |edition=1st paperback |year=2010 |page=180 |isbn=978-0-521-16855-7}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Dawlish Beach.jpg|thumb|right|View of Dawlish beach in May 1881]]

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 built [[salterns]] 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 nearby [[Teignmouth]] being the preferred site for salt-making, and the practice stopped at Dawlish during the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] period (400–1000 CE).<ref name=DHI>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dawlish.com/article/details/10 |title=Dawlish History Introduction |publisher=Dawlish.com |access-date=17 June 2012 |archive-date=30 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630134417/http://www.dawlish.com/article/details/10 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The earliest settlement at Dawlish grew up almost a mile away from the coast, around the area where the parish church is today.<ref name=H>{{Cite book |last=Hoskins |first=W.G. |title=A New Survey of England: Devon |publisher=Collins |location=London |year=1972 |edition=New |pages=386–387 |isbn=0-7153-5577-5}}</ref> 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.<ref name=DHI/>

The land that includes present-day Dawlish was granted by [[Edward the Confessor]] to Leofric, later the first [[Leofric, Bishop of Exeter|Bishop of Exeter]], in 1044. After the Norman Conquest, Leofric gave the land to the [[Diocese of Exeter]], which held it until it was sold,<ref name=W>{{Cite book |title=A History of Devonshire |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofdevonsh01wort |last=Worth |first=R. N. |publisher=Elliot Stock |location=London |year=1895 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofdevonsh01wort/page/314 314]–315}}</ref> in 1802.

[[File:Medieval Coin , Half Noble of Edward III (FindID 610198).jpg|thumb|right|A gold [[noble (English coin)|half-noble]] coin of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], minted {{circa|1351|1361}} and found in Dawlish<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/610198 |title= Finds record for: PUBLIC-162E15 |author=Robinson, A |access-date= 27 Aug 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
Little of note happened at Dawlish until the end of the 18th century,<ref name=W /> when seaside locations on the south coast started to become popular with the wealthy, mainly caused by [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] making [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]] in Dorset his summer holiday residence from 1789. In May 1795, the antiquarian and topographer [[John 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."<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Peter Hunt |title=Devon's Age of Elegance |publisher=Devon Books |year=1984 |isbn=0-86114-750-2 |page=128}}</ref>

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,<ref name=H /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Buildings of England – Devon |last1=Cherry |first1= Bridget |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |publisher=Penguin |location=Harmondsworth |year=1989 |pages=329–333 |isbn=0-14-071050-7}}</ref> despite severe damage from a torrent of water coming down Dawlish Water from the [[Haldon Hills]] on the night of 10 November 1810.<ref name=W/>

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.

===Brunel's railway===
In 1830, [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] designed an [[atmospheric railway]], which operated on a [[pneumatic]] principle,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hadfield |first=Charles |title=Atmospheric Railways |year=1967 |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=0-7153-4107-3}}</ref> using a 15-inch iron tube. One of the [[South Devon Railway engine houses|pumping 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.<ref name=H/>

The railway opened on 30 May 1846 between {{rws|Exeter St Davids}} and {{rws|Newton 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 Company|South Devon Railway]] directors abandoned the project in favour of conventional trains.

==Literary connections==
After visiting [[Sidmouth]] in 1801, [[Jane Austen]] spent a long holiday at Dawlish in 1802, later complaining about its "particularly pitiful and wretched library."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/janeausten.pdf |title=Jane Austen... Dawlish and Sidmouth |publisher=Devon Libraries |access-date=17 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212650/http://www.devon.gov.uk/janeausten.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> She mentioned it several times in her 1811 novel ''[[Sense and Sensibility]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pemberley.com/images/landt/maps/sands/Dawlish.html |title=Jane Austen Gazetteer – Sense and Sensibility – Dawlish, Devonshire |publisher=[[Republic of Pemberley|The Republic of Pemberley]] |access-date=17 June 2012 |archive-date=1 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701072218/http://www.pemberley.com/images/landt/maps/sands/Dawlish.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In Charles Dickens' ''[[Nicholas Nickleby]]'' (1838–39), the protagonist inherits a small farm near Dawlish. The novelist and poet [[Margaret Holford]] died in Dawlish on 11 September 1852, aged 84. On 23 March 1818, the Romantic poet [[John Keats]] walked the three miles from Teignmouth to Dawlish to visit the Easter Monday fair and subsequently wrote a poem entitled ''Dawlish Fair'', which details a fantasy of seducing a Devon woman.

==Transport==
===Railway===
[[File:Dawlish stat sw.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The view from Dawlish station to the south-west, towards the scenic coastal and tunnelled section of line]]

[[Dawlish railway station]], situated in the town centre and next to the beach, is served by two [[train operating companies]]:
* [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] operates regular stopping trains on a route between {{rws|Exmouth}}, {{rws|Exeter St Davids}} and {{rws|Paignton}}. Some [[inter-city rail|inter-city]] services between {{rws|Plymouth}}, Paignton and {{rws|London Paddington}} stop here, as well as some services between {{rws|Cardiff Central}}, {{rws|Bristol Temple Meads}}, Plymouth and {{rws|Penzance}}.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Great Western Railway |title=Train Times |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=28 July 2024 |url=https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/train-times}}</ref>
* [[CrossCountry]] services between [[Manchester Piccadilly]] and Paignton stop here twice a day in each direction.<ref>{{Cite web |work=CrossCountry |title=Timetables |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=28 July 2024 |url=https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/train-timetables}}</ref>

The line includes one of the most memorable stretches of British track for its natural environment, but at high cost; a constant battle with sea [[erosion]] makes it one of the dearest lines in the country to maintain.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/3738010.stm |title=Railway cliff scheme 'on target' |work=BBC News |date=13 October 2004 |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723221347/https://secure-uk.imrworldwide.com/v51.js |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4382200.stm |title=Weather could wash away rail link |work=BBC News |date=27 October 2005 |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-date=13 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113235357/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4382200.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5017878.stm |title=Brunel railway faces up to the sea |author=Chris Ledgard |work=BBC News |date=27 May 2006 |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723221345/https://secure-uk.imrworldwide.com/v51.js |url-status=live}}</ref> For example, a storm in 1974 washed away much of the station's down platform;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kay| first=Peter |title=Exeter – Newton Abbot: A Railway History |year=1991 |publisher=Platform 5 |isbn=1-872524-42-7 |page=108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-26038912 |title=Dawlish railway repairs halted over safety fears |work=BBC News |date=13 October 2004 |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-date=6 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206033948/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-26038912 |url-status=live}}</ref> also, in the [[UK storms of January–February 2014]], [[Wind wave|waves]] brought down the sea wall and washed away a section of line, leaving the permanent way suspended.<ref>{{Cite news |title=UK storms wash away railway line and leave thousands without power |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26042990 |access-date=5 February 2014 |website=BBC News |archive-date=5 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205072449/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26042990 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2014 storm raised questions about the vulnerability of the [[South Devon Railway sea wall]] to storm damage and proposals were made to route Plymouth-bound rail services further inland, by re-opening the [[Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR|disused railway line via Okehampton and Tavistock]], reopening the former [[Teign Valley Line]] or reviving a 1930s GWR project to construct the [[Dawlish Avoiding Line]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=How do you fix the Dawlish problem? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26068375 |access-date=8 February 2014 |newspaper=BBC News |date=7 February 2014 |last=Turner |first=Lauren |archive-date=8 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208065100/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26068375 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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;<ref>{{Cite news |title=Find out more about plans to protect vital railway artery to the South West |url=https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds/find-out-more-about-plans-to-protect-vital-railway-artery-to-the-south-west |access-date=5 June 2019 |work=Network Rail |archive-date=5 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605112101/https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds/find-out-more-about-plans-to-protect-vital-railway-artery-to-the-south-west/ |url-status=live}}</ref> it was completed on 3 July 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Gov.uk |title=Works complete on vital £82 million sea wall to protect coastal Dawlish rail route |date=3 July 2023 |access-date=28 July 2024 |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/news/works-complete-on-vital-82-million-sea-wall-to-protect-coastal-dawlish-rail-route |quote=}}</ref>

===Roads===
The [[A379 road]] between [[Exeter]], Teignmouth, [[Torbay]], [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]] and [[Plymouth]] runs through the town, parallel to the railway line.

===Buses===
Buses in the town are operated predominantly by [[Stagecoach South West]]. Key routes are:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dawlish Bus Services |work=Bus Times |access-date=28 July 2024 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/dawlish}}</ref>
* 2 from Exeter to [[Newton Abbot]]
* 11 from [[Dawlish Warren]] to [[Torquay]]
* 186, which links the town centre, hospital and [[Sainsbury's]] to the main housing areas; this is operated by Country Bus (Newton Abbot).

==Climate==
Dawlish has a mild, oceanic climate bordering on a warm to cool [[Mediterranean climate]], according to the [[Köppen 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]].<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.3942?af=R. |doi=10.1002/wea.3942 |access-date=15 April 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415204448/https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.3942?af=R. |url-status=live|title=Devon lemons: The micro-climate of South Devon and citrus fruit cultivation |year=2021 |last1=Almond |first1=Chris |journal=Weather |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=136–137 |bibcode=2021Wthr...76..136A |s2cid=233610059 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Temperatures over 30C or under 0C are infrequent. It is one of the sunniest places in Britain, with an average of nearly 1800 hours a year. Despite more favourable conditions in the summer, the wet autumn and winter can bring copious amounts of rain, and when areas of low pressure move up the [[English Channel]], easterly winds with dramatic storm surges and waves along the seafront.<ref>Dawlish weather site [http://www.dawlishweather.co.uk/history/DawlishWeatherAverages.htm Dawlish Climate Averages (2005–2018)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203150919/http://dawlishweather.co.uk/history/DawlishWeatherAverages.htm |date=3 February 2017}}</ref>

{{Weather box
| location = Dawlish
| collapsed =
| metric first = y
| single line = y
| Jan high C = 9.3
| Feb high C = 9.1
| Mar high C = 11.0
| Apr high C = 13.2
| May high C = 16.2
| Jun high C = 19.4
| Jul high C = 21.3
| Aug high C = 21.1
| Sep high C = 19.0
| Oct high C = 15.9
| Nov high C = 12.2
| Dec high C = 10.3
| year high C = 
| Jan low C = 4.0
| Feb low C = 3.8
| Mar low C = 4.6
| Apr low C = 6.1
| May low C = 8.8
| Jun low C = 11.7
| Jul low C = 13.5
| Aug low C = 13.6
| Sep low C = 11.9
| Oct low C = 9.7
| Nov low C = 6.3
| Dec low C = 4.9
| year low C = 
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 96
| Feb precipitation mm = 77
| Mar precipitation mm = 69
| Apr precipitation mm = 50
| May precipitation mm = 55
| Jun precipitation mm = 47
| Jul precipitation mm = 45
| Aug precipitation mm = 58
| Sep precipitation mm = 60
| Oct precipitation mm = 77
| Nov precipitation mm = 77
| Dec precipitation mm = 95
| year precipitation mm = 854.2
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 18
|Feb precipitation days = 14
|Mar precipitation days = 16
|Apr precipitation days = 13
|May precipitation days = 14
|Jun precipitation days = 11
|Jul precipitation days = 10
|Aug precipitation days = 11
|Sep precipitation days = 13
|Oct precipitation days = 15
|Nov precipitation days = 17
|Dec precipitation days = 17
|year precipitation days =
| Jan sun = 64.4
| Feb sun = 80.1
| Mar sun = 126.0
| Apr sun = 175.8
| May sun = 213.8
| Jun sun = 218.3
| Jul sun = 222.6
| Aug sun = 202.1
| Sep sun = 158.8
| Oct sun = 108.4
| Nov sun = 82.2
| Dec sun = 64.4
| year sun = 1717.0
|date=June 2025}}

==Local produce==
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 growing [[dianthus]], [[freesias]], [[daffodils]], [[tomatoes]] and [[strawberries]].{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

==Retail and employment==
[[File:Take away cream teas.jpg|thumb|Take away cream teas]]

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 including [[Gay'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 a [[Sainsbury's]] supermarket with an [[Argos]] facility 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%).

==Religion==
The town's places of worship are:
* Hope Church (DCF)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hope Church Website |website=Hope Church Dawlish |url=https://www.hopechurchdawlish.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604085638/http://www.dawlishchristianfellowship.net/ |archive-date=4 June 2017 |access-date=5 June 2017}}</ref>
* Dawlish [[Baptists|Baptist]] Church<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dawlishbaptist.org.uk/ |title=Welcome to Dawlish Baptist Church |website=Dawlish Baptist Church |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-date=21 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521080235/http://dawlishbaptist.org.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Dawlish Methodist Church]]
* Dawlish Strand Church ([[United Reformed Church|United Reformed]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.strandchurch.org.uk/a1_Welcome.htm |title=Welcome to Dawlish Strand Church |website=Dawlish Strand Church |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-date=25 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125232004/http://www.strandchurch.org.uk/a1_Welcome.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
* St Agatha's Church ([[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/church/dawlish-st-agatha/ |title=St Agatha Church |website=Plymouth Diocese |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-date=2 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302141829/http://dawlish.com/group/details/4381 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[St Gregory's Church, Dawlish|St Gregory's Church]] ([[Anglicanism|Anglican]])<ref>A Church Near You [https://www.achurchnearyou.com/dawlish-st-gregory/ Retrieved 5 June 2017.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618022731/http://www.achurchnearyou.com/dawlish-st-gregory/ |date=18 June 2012}}</ref>

==Education==
The primary schools in Dawlish are:
* Gatehouse Primary School<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gatehouse.devon.sch.uk/ |title=Welcome to Gatehouse Primary Academy |website=Gatehouse Primary Academy |access-date=15 January 2017}}</ref> 
* Westcliff Primary School<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gatehouse.devon.sch.uk/ |title=Welcome to Westcliff Primary School |website=Westcliff Primary School |access-date=18 November 2025}}</ref> 
* Orchard Manor School.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oaklandspark.devon.sch.uk/ |title=Welcome to Orchard Manor School |website=Orchard Manor School |access-date=2 October 2007 |archive-date=8 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208055156/http://www.oaklandspark.devon.sch.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref> 

[[Dawlish College]], formerly Dawlish Community College, in Elm Grove Road, is the main secondary school.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dawlish-college.co.uk/ |title=Welcome to Dawlish College |website=Dawlish College |access-date=18 November 2025}}</ref>

[[Oakwood Court College]] is a specialist residential college based in Dawlish, with a satellite college in [[Torpoint]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oakwoodcourt.ac.uk/ |title=Welcome to Oakwood Specialist College |website=Oakwood Court |access-date=18 November 2025}}</ref>

==Governance==
Locally, Dawlish is governed by Dawlish Town Council, which is currently controlled by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], as is the next local-government layer above, [[Teignbridge|Teignbridge District Council]]. Dawlish lies in the [[United Kingdom Parliament constituencies|parliamentary constituency]] of [[Newton Abbot (UK Parliament constituency)|Newton Abbot]], represented since 2024 by [[Martin Wrigley]] of the Liberal Democrats.

==Twinning==
Dawlish is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with the [[Brittany|Breton]] commune of [[Carhaix-Plouguer]] in France.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Towns Twinned with French Towns |url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |publisher=Complete France |access-date=4 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |archive-date=5 July 2013 |df=dmy}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
* [[Thomas Vowler Short]] (1790–1872), academic and clergyman, & [[Bishop of Sodor and Man]] and [[Bishop of St Asaph]].<ref>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Short, Thomas Vowler |volume=52|pages=155|short=1}}</ref>
* [[Herman Merivale]] (1806–1874), an English civil servant and historian.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Merivale, Herman |volume= 18 |page=169 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Robert J. Shuttleworth]] (1810–1874), an English botanist and [[malacologist]].<ref>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Shuttleworth, Robert James |volume=52|pages=176-177|short=1}}</ref>
* [[Arthur George Hammond|Colonel Sir Arthur George Hammond]], (1843–1919), recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]]
* [[H. O. Arnold-Forster]] (1855–1909), a British politician and writer.<ref>{{cite DNB12 |wstitle= Arnold-Forster, Hugh Oakeley |volume=1|pages=61-64|short= 1}}</ref> 
* [[Benjamin Haughton (artist)|Benjamin Haughton]] (1865–1924) landscape artist
* [[Henry Singleton Pennell|Captain Henry Singleton Pennell]] (1874–1907), recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]]
* [[Igerna Sollas]] (1877–1965), a British zoologist, palaeontologist and geologist
* [[Aylward M. Blackman]] (1883–1956), an [[Egyptologist]], who excavated in Egypt and Nubia, notably [[Buhen]] and [[Meir, Egypt|Meir]].
* [[Paul Britten Austin]] (1922–2005), author, translator, broadcaster, administrator and scholar of Swedish literature.
* [[Adrian Smith (statistician)|Sir Adrian Frederick Melhuish Smith]], PRS (born 1946), statistician and chief executive of the [[Alan Turing Institute]].

==See also==
* [[Dawlish, South Australia]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.dawlish.gov.uk Dawlish Town Council]
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Dawlish |volume= VI | page=848 |short=1}}
* {{OpenDomesday|SX9676|dawlish}}
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{{Devon}}
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[[Category:Dawlish| ]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in England]]
[[Category:Towns in Devon]]
[[Category:Beaches of Devon]]