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Dawlish is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon in England, 12 miles (19 km) from the county town of Exeter. It has a population of 12,819. During the 18th century, it grew from a small fishing port to become a well-known seaside resort.
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 seawall path, behind it. To the north-east, via the beach or seawall, the coast can be followed some 2 km to Langstone Rock and the resort of Dawlish Warren beyond, although this path is blocked at extreme high water.
Dawlish is also known for its black swans (Cygnus atratus), introduced from Western Australia, which live with other exotic waterfowl in a small urban sanctuary on Dawlish Water.
In 1830, Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed a railway, which operated on a pneumatic principle using a 15-inch iron tube. One of the pumping stations was in this town. The line ran right along the sea-front of the town, but Brunel ensured that the line was carried across the mouth of the stream on a small granite viaduct, leaving access to the beach. The atmospheric railway opened on 30 May 1846 and ran between Exeter St. Davids and Newton Abbot. The first passenger train ran in September 1847, but the project was besieged with problems mainly with the leather sealing valve, which after 12 months use needed replacing at a cost of £25,000. South Devon Railway directors abandoned the project in favour of conventional trains: the last atmospheric train ran in September 1848.
The line along the seafront sustained considerable damage during the storms of February 2014. The line was closed for several months while some sections had to be rebuilt from scratch.
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