Dawlish Webcam – Trains on Devon’s Famous Sea Wall

The Dawlish Webcam looks out from the Sea Breeze Takeaway beside Dawlish railway station, on the South Devon coast, and follows the seafront south toward the wooded red headland of Lea Mount. The main line crosses the foreground on a girder bridge and runs along the top of the sea wall, with steps up to the promenade and a long stone breakwater reaching into the English Channel. Trains pass close enough to fill the lower half of the frame, and people walk out along the breakwater on calm days. The stream carries live sound, and three more cameras from the same operator sit in the tabs: two from the Blenheim on the seafront and one at Dawlish Warren.

About Dawlish

Dawlish sits 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Exeter, where Dawlish Water runs through The Lawn, the town’s central park, and reaches the sea beside the station. The 2021 census counted 15,257 residents. The town is known for its black swans, a species brought from Western Australia that lives with other exotic waterfowl in a small sanctuary on Dawlish Water. Jane Austen visited in 1802 and mentioned the town in Sense and Sensibility.

The railway is what makes this view famous. Isambard Kingdom Brunel engineered the South Devon Railway, which opened from Exeter to Teignmouth on 30 May 1846 and follows tidal water for about 21 kilometers (13 miles), 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) of it beside the open sea. Brunel built it as an atmospheric railway, but the system failed mechanically and was abandoned within months of its first passenger trains in September 1847. Under Lea Mount the tracks enter Kennaway Tunnel.

That exposure nearly cut the line in 2014, when a storm on the night of 4 February washed away around 40 meters (130 feet) of the sea wall at Dawlish. Network Rail has since raised the wall south of the station by 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), finishing in July 2023, so the parapet running away from the camera toward Lea Mount is the newer, higher wall.

In the tabs, Blenheim looks down a seafront road lined with parked cars toward Lea Mount, and Blenheim 2 points the other way, along the tracks to a long breakwater and up the coast. Brunel Holiday Park looks across Dawlish Warren, past old railway carriages in a siding and the main line to the amusements, the green and the sea wall.

Weather and Climate in Dawlish

The weather station at Teignmouth, the next town down the coast, gives a fair picture of Dawlish. Its 1991 to 2020 averages put January at a high of 9.7 C (49.5 F) and a low of 4.2 C (39.6 F), and April at around 13.4 C (56.1 F) by day. Winter is the season for heavy seas on the camera, when strong winds drive the waves hard against the wall.

Summer is warm rather than hot. July averages 21.1 C (70.0 F) by day and 13.7 C (56.7 F) at night, and the promenade and breakwater are typically at their busiest. October still averages 15.7 C (60.3 F) by day and 9.6 C (49.3 F) at night, and Teignmouth records about 873 millimeters (34.4 inches) of rain a year. With the camera facing south, the morning sun comes up over the sea on the left, and in late afternoon the low sun shines from behind Lea Mount.

Things to Do Near Dawlish

Start at The Lawn, upstream from the station along Dawlish Water, where the black swans share the stream with other waterfowl. From the station the sea wall path heads south-west toward Lea Mount and the small beaches of Boat Cove and Coryton Cove. The other way, it follows the railway north-east for about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) to Langstone Rock, at the south-western end of Dawlish Warren.

Dawlish Warren, the resort on the Brunel Holiday Park tab, ends in a National Nature Reserve: a sand spit about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) long across the mouth of the Exe estuary. It is part of the Exe Estuary Special Protection Area and Ramsar site, and thousands of wading birds and wildfowl feed or spend the winter there, with a visitor centre and ranger service on site. Toward Teignmouth, past Parson’s Tunnel, the Parson and Clerk Rocks form a natural arch in the sea off Hole Head.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More harbour, seaside and railway cameras in England and Wales:

• Boscastle Webcam
• Llandudno Webcam
• South Devon Railway Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you see on the Dawlish Webcam?

The main camera looks south along the seafront from beside the railway station, over the girder bridge and tracks to the sea wall, a long stone breakwater and the wooded headland of Lea Mount, with the sea on the left. The tabs add two Blenheim seafront views and one over Dawlish Warren.

Where is Dawlish located?

Dawlish is a seaside town in Devon, south-west England, 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Exeter and a similar distance from Torquay, on the coastal railway between Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth.

Can you see trains on the Dawlish sea wall camera?

Yes. The main line crosses the foreground on a bridge and runs along the sea wall across the whole shot, so trains between Exeter and Teignmouth pass right through the frame. All three tabs show the same line from other angles.

Does the Dawlish webcam have sound?

Yes. Coast Cams streams the Sea Breeze camera with real sound from the seafront, so passing trains and the sea can be heard. Turn up the volume on the player if it starts muted.

Is there a Blenheim webcam in Dawlish?

Yes. Coast Cams runs two cameras from the Blenheim B&B on the seafront, and both are tabs on this page, one facing Lea Mount and one facing up the coast along the railway.

Is there a Dawlish Warren live cam?

Yes, on the Brunel Holiday Park tab. It looks across Dawlish Warren past the railway and the amusements to the green and the sea wall, with the far side of the Exe estuary on the horizon. The main Dawlish camera faces the other way and does not show the Warren.

What happened to the Dawlish sea wall in 2014?

On the night of 4 February 2014, high winds and extremely rough seas breached the sea wall at Dawlish and washed away around 40 meters (130 feet) of it. The line stayed closed until 4 April 2014.

What is the weather like in Dawlish?

Mild. Teignmouth’s averages run from January highs of 9.7 C (49.5 F) to July highs of 21.1 C (70.0 F), with about 873 millimeters (34.4 inches) of rain a year.

Source: Coast Cams