A General History of Dawley

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Dawley Town
Buildings and Landmarks
Horsehay
The Ironworks
Events
Famous People of Dawley: Captain Webb, Samuel Peploe, Albert Stanley, Edith Pargeter, William Ball, William Foulke
Reference

Dawley Town

In medieval times Dawley most likely consisted of clearings in areas of late surviving woodland as suggested from the element of “Leah” in the township name which is an Anglo Saxon word for a woodland clearing, Dawley meaning; ‘the clearing in the wood of Daellas people’.

Dawley and Malinslee were mostly pastoral in the medieval ages with their small extent of open arable fields and the late survival of woodland suggesting this. “In the mid 14th century horses, goats, pigs, and especially cattle frequently damaged crops in Malinslee” (fn. 6)

In the 16^th Century coal and ironstone had begun to be mined in Dawley. Early mining did not go very deep it was confined to seams that lay near the surface and could be worked from open pits or adits. Vertical shafts for raising minerals by gins appear to have been in use by 1710. Coalpit Bank on the high ground between Dawley Bank and Heath Hill was one of the earliest areas for coalmining.

There were also two kilns in Little Dawley in 1793 and three brick yards on the Coalbrookdale Company’s land around Dawley Green in 1817. By the mid 19^th Century the clay industries were concentrated in several large brick and tile works.

Dawley was a strong area for mining during the industrial revolution, by 1905 only 1,547 a. (55 per cent of the parish were classed as agricultural land). Horses were raised from the 18^th Century due to the demand for them as draught animals in the collieries and ironworks. In the mid 19^th Century the farm supported 30-40 draught horses for the Horsehay Ironworks. Farming of crops decreased and by 1980 virtually all land in Great Dawley and Malinslee was non-agricultural use.

Industry remained strong throughout the early 20^th Century with concrete plants, brick works and a string of factories and an engineering works nearby.

Other industries in Dawley included Walter Simmonds’s football factory in Chapel Street from 1905 to 1937 and Mor-Isis Products, an ice-cream factory at Blews Hill from 1953 to 1974.

There was a strong Market in Dawley due to the population increase in the late 18^th and early 19^th century and with the growth of Dawley Green (later named the High Street) as the Parishes commercial centre, a weekly market and annual cattle fair was established. There were several market houses built from 1836 and a new market hall was built opposite the earlier one in 1867. The market declined and the hall was sold to Lloyds Bank in 1958. From 1977 there has been an open-air market held on Fridays in the High Street.

In 1964 plans were made for the beautification of Dawley as it was called. Mining and industry had taken its toll on the landscape of Dawley there

Dawley was acting as an overspill for the population of the Black Country so it was acknowledged that provision for the predicted population growth would also need to be addressed. In 1963, planners designed a new town to deal with the eventual population of around 90,000. Dawley was the largest town in the area at the time with a population of 8,000. This was originally coined “Dawley New Town” but later changed to “Telford New Town” after Thomas Telford who built the first iron bridge nearby in Ironbridge and it was expanded to take in the towns of Wellington and Oakengates.

The towns draft master plan of 1964 recommended the town’s commercial and retailing centre be on the eastern side of Dawley ancient parish, however the first phase of Telford town centre was opened farther north in 1973 on the site of Malinslee Hall and the ruined chapel.

Buildings and Landmarks of Dawley

Baptist Chapel

The Baptist Chapel is at the top of Dawley Bank, it was first erected on the old Bull Ring in 1846 to seat 200 people. A second version was built in 1860. A multi purpose building replaced this chapel in 2000.

Post Office

There was a post office in the high street by 1840 and by 1856 offices had opened at Dawley Bank, Horsehay and Little Dawley. The post office is now in the Co-operative shop.

Church of St Leonard at Malinslee

The Church was consecrated on the 10^th September 1805, built on the borders of Great Dawley and Malinslee townships by I.H. Browne. Closely resembling Thomas Telford’s Madeley Church it is an octagonal building of local sandstone.

Dark Lane Station, Malinslee

The station was built close to the Dark Lane Iron Foundry built by the Botfield Brothers in the 1830’s with the Randlay Brickworks and the Stirchly Ironworks close by.

Market Hall

The Market Hall was built in 1867 with red brick. It had an ornamental frontage and vaults underneath. The Market Day was on Saturday and reported to be “well attended” (fn. 8).

Talbot Inn

The Talbot Inn was built in 1846, it is still in operation today.

Captain Webb’s Memorial

Captain Webb’s memorial was revealed in 1909 by his older brother Thomas. It bears the inscription “nothing great is easy”.

Lord Hill Hotel

The Lord Hill Hotel is at the bottom of Dawley High Street.

The Lord Hill Hotel commemorates Shropshire’s most famous soldier; Lord Rowland Hill. He was a commander in Wellington’s army and saw action in the peninsular wars and at Waterloo. The Hotel was first licensed in 1818, registered as an ale house and open seven days a week. The Inn was mainly frequented by miners and ironworkers.

Cinemas

The Royal Cinema was opened by Dr Woodhouse in 1937. It was closed as a cinema in 1961 and converted into a bingo hall. The first cinema to open in Dawley was the town hall in 1913 and was known as the Royal Windsor Variety and Picture Palace.

The Cosy Cinema stood in Burton Street and was opened around 1921. The main structure was built out of corrugated iron with a fancy frontage placed across the front. It was known locally as the flea pit because “you came out with more than you went in with!” (fn. 9) Apparently it was a hot spot for lovers. The roof was made of tin, so when it rained it was really noisy.

Dawley Church of England (Aided) School

The school was erected in 1841 on land on the Dosely Road given by R.A Staney. It became a Church of England (Aided) school in 1952. A nursery class was added in 1972 and in the 1990’s new classroom accommodation was provided.

Pool Hill School

The school was opened by the Coalbrookdale Company in 1843 for the mining community. The old school was devastated by fire in 1977 and had to be rebuilt. In 1980 the infant and junior departments were re-united and re-named the “Captain Webb County School”.

Holy Trinity Church

This parish church of Dawley Magna is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was erected in 1845 to replace the old church that had been undermined and was in danger of total collapse.

The Round House

The Round House was erected as a pottery kiln around 1790 and then converted into a dwelling with the demand for housing in 1843. It was occupied until about 1960 before it was demolished in 1970. Somewhat a shame as it was a very interesting building and local landmark. It was also known as the “pound of sugar house” locally (fn. 10).

Cinderhill

Cinderhill was a huge mound of clinker and ash from the Horsehay Works. It was so big it was known as a local landmark. It was removed as part of the Telford New Town development along with many pits and mounds around Dawley.

The Castle

It is thought that there was a medieval castle in Dawley around 250 metres south of the church near Castle Pools area. Its location was noted on old maps, and before the area was landscaped with the development of Telford New Town there were extensive ruins.

Rather than a castle it was thought to be more of a medieval manor in structure, built by William de Morton in 1316. It would probably have looked a bit like Stokesay Castle.

In 1397 the castle was seized by the crown after Richard Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel fell foul of King Richard II and was executed in 1397.

In 1559 the Manor was purchased by Sir Rowland Heywood and he or Fulke Compton erected a manor house on the site or nearby.

During the First Civil war the castle manor was held by royalist forces until parliament forces captured it in 1645. After an abortive attempt to plant a royalist garrison there the castle was demolished in 1648 after power was given to the “Committee of Shropshire”. Most likely the stone work from the castle would have been stolen and used in the building of Dawley Castle Ironworks.

By 1762 the site had become a farmstead with buildings, surrounded by the remains of the water filled moat. The 19^th century industry with the Castle furnaces obliterated any trace of the former castle. (fn. 7)

Nothing remains of the castle now and its true location is unknown.

Horsehay

Horsehay was not much more than a farm until the 1750’s when Abraham Darby II built a blast furnace next to what is now known as Horsehay Pool.

Bricks and pottery were made in Horsehay from about 1796 by the Coalbrookdale Company. Later the works was run by Edward Thursfield, but had been closed by 1843.

The Coalbrookdale Company further developed the area building brickworks and later a pottery in 1838.

Horsehay constructed many larger scale products than the nearby Coalbrookdale, including the railway bridge in nearby Shifnal.

The iron trade began to slump in 1857, however the arrival of the railway still provided a vital connection to industry in the country and Horsehay is still home to the Telford Steam Railway today.

A.B Cranes bought the area previously occupied by the ironworks and used it to manufacture some of the largest cranes in Europe until its closure in 1983.

The Ironworks

Horsehay Ironworks enjoyed a history of more than 230 years on the same site.

It was founded by Abraham Darby II in 1754 and contributed to the birth of the Industrial Revolution with its large scale production of Iron products. Horsehay was very convenient for the Darby’s being just a short walk to the north of Coalbrookdale and providing a sufficient water supply and land for the lease. The construction of the Works coincided with the Coalbrookdale Company’s lease of the mines in Great Dawley and Ketley. The first furnace was blown in 1755 and a second in 1757.

The railway was built from Horsehay to the nearby Severn Wharves with the first wagon of ‘pigs’ (iron) being sent down Jiggers bank through Coalbrookdale on to the Wharves almost within sight of the Ironbridge which was built later by Abraham Darby III and completed in 1779.

A forge was built at Horsehay in 1781 and wrought iron was produced by the Wright & Jesson process. There was a period of decreased production in the early 19^th Century but from 1830 this started to change when Alfred and Abraham Derby (IV) took an active interest in the Works.

During the 19^th century the Ironworks made the plates for the steam ship “Great Britain” and the Edward Albert railway bridge that spans the Severn at Buildwas in 1863.

Many people including dignitaries visited the works which in its busiest period had produced the greatest production of iron then known.

The depression in the iron trade in the 1870’s and the 1880’s eventually led to the closure of the mills and forges at Horsehay in 1886.

It had belonged to the Coalbrookdale Company but was sold off in 1886 and taken over by H.C. Simpson and his brother who moved here from Rotherham, they developed the heavy engineering side of the business. Bridges, roofs and girders were manufactured in general.

After the Second World War the company was taken over by the Adamson Alliance Co. Ltd. In 1948 the Works was rebuilt to manufacture heavy cranes and was responsible for providing pre-fabricated bridges to export all around the world. In 1980 Adamson-Butterfly Ltd. made many types of heavy machinery, including travelling cranes, bridges and mining equipment at Horsehay.

“Horsehay workers were always in demand, they had such great skill” (fn. 4)

It was a major employer in the area until the mid 1980’s when it closed in 1985 the loss of 307 jobs.

Events

The Springwell Pit Disaster

8 young men died by falling to their deaths 6^th December 1872

Victim’s names and ages:

John Davies (19)
Edward Jones (21)
Isaiah Skelton (15)
Allen Wyke (20)
Robert Smith (18)
William Bailey (21)
John Parker (22)
John Yale (21)

The Cinderhill Riots

The Cinderhill Riots happened in 1821 after a reduction of wages. They were also coined the Cinderloo Riots after the famous Peterloo Massacre in 1819.

“…rising food prices in the late 18th and early 19th century led to a succession of riots. The most serious in Dawley were the Cinderhill riots triggered by a reduction in wages in 1821, when 3,000 colliers confronted troops on a slag mound near Old Park. Two rioters were killed when troops opened fire and one of the leaders was later executed.” (fn. 5)

Famous People of Dawley

Captain Webb (1848 -1883)

Captain Webb was born in Dawley in 1848 one of twelve children of a Coalbrookdale doctor.

Image used with permission from the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library.

He is most famous for swimming the English Channel in 22 hours in 1875 covered in porpoise oil, swept by strong currents and stung by a jellyfish.

On his return to Dawley he was followed by a procession of people and the Shifnal Brass Band. There is a local legend that a pig placed its front trotters on top the wall of its sty to watch the brass band as it passed by.

Matthew Webb was an enthusiastic swimmer from an early age “…young Matthew would swim like a fish in the river and, on one occasion, saved a younger brother from drowning” (fn. 1).

He began an apprenticeship at the age of 14 with Rathbone Brothers who had a fleet of cargo ships in the East Indies and China trade.

He was very popular with his shipmates, his “…love of water and fearless temperament held him in high esteem” (fn. 2).

Matthew Webb first came to public attention in 1873 after he tried to save a shipmate who had fallen into the Icy Atlantic Water from the rigging of the Cunard Liner the ‘Russia’. The man was not found, but Webb remained in the water for 37 minutes before located by a lifeboat. Because of his brave efforts to save the man he was awarded the first Stanhope gold medal, now given annually for lifesaving feats.

He continued his swimming activities by training in the Lambeth Baths in preparation to swim the Channel after he had studied a chart of the Channel and believed it possible to make the crossing between the two nearest points for Dover and Calais.

His first attempt to swim the Channel was on August 12^th 1875 but he was stopped short by a terrible storm and had to be pulled from the water after 7 hours.

His successful attempt was made just 12 days later on Tuesday 24^th of August.

Webb became a national hero and a wealthy man and in May 1879 he won the swimming championship of England at the Lambeth Baths.

After many more public swimming events some more successful than others and all for money, he decided to swim the Niagara Falls Rapids in 1883. This was his last and fatal swim, but he was remembered with a memorial in Dawley in 1909 and a granite monument marks his grave in Oakwood Cemetery at Niagara Falls.

Captain Webb did a lot to promote the sport of swimming and instilled pride into the people of Britain during and after his lifetime. His image was even used in advertising.

Rt. Rev. Samuel Peploe (1668 – 1752)

Son of a Little Dawley Farmer and Bishop of Chester baptised at Dawly Parva. He held the office of Bishop of Chester in 1726 to 1752.

He had a reputation for being outspoken against the Roman Catholic inhabitants who at the time held a majority.

In November 1715 he is said to have preached a daring sermon urging support for King George I when the Jacobite forces came to Preston.

He died 21^st February 1752 and was buried in Chester Cathederal.

Albert Stanley (1862 – 1915)

Albert Stanley was born at Dark Lane, the son of a Primitive Methodist miner and eventually leader of the Cannock miners and M.P. for North-West Staffordshire (fn. 3)

Edith Pargeter (1913 – 1995)

Edith Pargeter was born in 1913 in Horsehay, Shropshire. She was educated at the Dawley Church of England School and the old Coalbrookdale High School for Girls. Before she worked as an author she had a varied job history, working first as a temporary Labour Exchange Clerk and later as a Chemists Assistant in Dawley. This gave her the medicinal knowledge she needed for writing about crime stories. All her spare time would be spent writing and it took her many years to become a success but she persisted.

In 1940 she became a Wartime Wren in Liverpool and received the British Empire Medal for her services. Her wartime experiences also gave her experience for her novels published around this time including Ordinary People (1941) and She Goes to War (1942).

In 1947 she visited Czechoslovakia and became interested in the people there. She learned the Czech language and became a translator of Czech prose and poetry. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Czechoslovak Society for International Relations for her services to Czech literature.

Her mystery stories were very popular and she began writing these in 1951.

She was best known as the author of the Brother Cadfael novels who first appeared in the story “a Morbid Taste for Bones” in 1977. The name Ellis Peters was adopted by the writer to mark a distinction between her mystery crime stories and her other work.

She won awards for her writing from both the British Crime Writers Association and the Mystery Writers of America. She was also awarded an OBE and an honorary Masters Degree from Birmingham University.

There is a memorial to her in Shrewsbury Abbey.

William Ball- the Shropshire Giant (1795 – 1852)

William ball worked as an Iron Puddler in the Coalbrookdale Company’s Horsehay Ironworks for 40 years. He is famous for weighing 40 stones; he was an incredibly big strong man- which Iron Puddlers had to be, so it suited him as an occupation very well.

Illustration by Christine Garner.

Iron Puddling was an improved process to convert pig iron into wrought iron using a reverberating furnace stirred with rods. It was invented in the 1780’s by Henry Cort. A puddler would use his rabble (long rod with a hooked end) to stir the iron and get rid of impurities, forming iron balls then he would rake them together to form a large iron lump weighing a few hundred pounds.

In 1850 William Ball had to be hoisted onto a horse for the birth of Alfred Darby II by a special crane so he could lead the procession.

Following an eye injury he finished at the Works and toured the country under the name of John Bull. This may be related to the invented persona of John Bull which had been created earlier as a national personification of Britain which William Ball resembled in appearance, but we can’t say for sure.

William Foulke (1874 – 1916)

William Henry “fatty” Foulke was born on the 12^th April 1874 in Dawley. He was a professional cricketer and football player in England in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. At 6 foot and 4 inches tall and weighing around 24 stone he was renowned for his size. Although a big man he was very agile and strong and his weight would have been an advantage in an age when it was common that goalkeepers were shoulder charged into the net. He also had the ability to punch the ball over the half way line.

He played for Sheffield United and was a successful goalkeeper and one of the most famous players of his day. He helped them win the FA cup twice. Foulkes was an expert at saving penalties and was known to charge up field to the opposing penalty spot. He later moved to Chelsea FC and was made captain. He was very popular with the crowds. He also played for Bradford City.

William was a very colourful character; he could be temperamental at matches and is known to have walked off the field if he thought other players were not pulling their weight. He also picked opposing forwards who annoyed him and threw them into the goal.

Another of his party tricks was to pick up opposing forwards and stand them on their heads in the goal mouth and it is rumoured that one unlucky forward was picked up and held overt the muddy field upside down by his feet after unwisely insulting Foulkes.

Foulke appeared in the Mitchell and Kenyon films as an unwitting film star, playing a match that was filmed on the 6^th September 1902.

Another claim to fame is that the football chant “who ate all the pies” is thought to have originated with Foulkes, who once cleared the plates of all his team-mates before they got a chance to sit down to dinner themselves.

Foulkes died on the 1^st of May 1916 aged 42 and was buried in Burngreave cemetery in Sheffield. His death certificate says that Cirrhosis was the major cause of his death.

Footnotes

Elderwick David, Nothing Great is Easy, page 4
Elderwick David, Nothing Great is Easy, page 5
‘Dawley’, A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford (1985), pp. 105-106.
Mr B T Duckett in his book Dawley Green
‘Dawley’, A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford (1985), pp. 105-106. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18086
‘Dawley: Economic history’, A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford (1985), pp. 115-125.
‘Dawley: Manors and other estates’, A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11: Telford (1985), pp. 112-115.
Farlow R & Trumper D, Shropshire Postcards from the past: Telford, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, 2006, p98
Farlow R & Trumper D, Shropshire Postcards from the past: Telford, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, 2006, p100
Great Dawley Parish Council & the Workers Educational Association, The Dawley Book, p3

Further Reading

Great Dawley Parish Council & the Workers Educational Association, The Dawley Book
Elderwick David, Nothing Great is Easy: The story of Captain Matthew Webb
Farlow R & Trumper D, Shropshire Postcards from the past: Telford, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, 2006,

Internet Sources

Author: Christine Garner

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Great Dawley Parish Council

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A General History of Dawley