new town in Telford and Wrekin unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Shropshire, western England. It lies north and east of the hill of the Wrekin, which has an elevation of 1,335 feet (407 metres). Dawley, now part of Telford, was designated a new town in 1963 to draw off population and industry from the city of Birmingham and the adjacent industrial region known (because of its pollution-coated landscapes) as the Black Country. In 1968 the area of the new town was enlarged and the official name changed to Telford, and intense housing and factory development transformed the area. Pop. (2001) 40,437.