Dawley (/dɔːli/ DAW-lee) is a former mining town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It was originally proposed to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan in 1963, however it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford', after the engineer and road-builder Thomas Telford. 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).

The name Dawley comes from Old English meaning woodland clearing associated with a man called Dealla.

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.

In 1894 Dawley became an urban district, the urban district contained the parish of Dawley Magna or Dawley, on 1 April 1974 the district was abolished to form Wrekin, the parish was also abolished. In 1961 the parish had a population of 9558. On 1 April 1988 a parish called "Great Dawley" was formed.

Unlike the other towns in Telford and Wrekin, Dawley never had its own railway station to serve the town itself. Two railway stations served the town despite being some distance from Dawley itself. The nearest station to the town was Dawley and Stirchley, located roughly 1 mile to the southeast of the town under Stirchley Lane and also served the neighboring village of Stirchley. It opened in 1860 on the Coalport branch line but closed in 1952 along with the line. The trackbed including the platform now form part of the Silkin Way. The other station is in nearby Horsehay, located 1 mile to the southwest of the town. It is on the former Wellington to Craven Arms Line and originally closed in 1962, before being reopened by the Telford Steam Railway. It now serves as a heritage railway station. The nearest mainline station for the town is Telford Central.

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 major influences on the landscape. Mining had an important impact on the local culture. In 1821, production at Dawley's ironworks of was halted by striking miners in protest at lowering of their wages. Many of the workers in Dawley joined a larger group of protesters in what came to be known as the Cinderloo Uprising. In 1872, the Springwell Pit Disaster resulted in the deaths of eight men and boys.