Bude Canal

Bude Canal
The course of Hobbacott Incline in 2007; it ascends the hillside, marked by the twin rows of trees
Specifications
Maximum boat length	20 ft 0 in (6.096 m)
Maximum boat beam	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Locks	2 + 6 inclines
Status	part extant
History
Principal engineer	James Green (1781-1849), Thomas Shearm
Date of act	1819
Date completed	1823
Date closed	1891
Geography
Start point	Bude
End point	Vinworthy (N), Blagdon (E) and Druxton (S)

[ ] Bude Canal
Blagdon Moor Wharf Stanbury Wharf Lower Tamar Lake Virworthy Wharf Bude aqueduct Vealand Incline Bude Bay Bude Sea Lock Rodds Bridge Lock Whalesborough Lock A39 road bridge Marhamchurch Incline Hobbacott Incline A3072 Holsworthy Road B3254 Launceston Road Littlebridge Wharf Merrifield Incline North Tamerton Wharf Tamerton Incline Boyton Bridge Wharf Bridgetown Incline Druxton Wharf

The Bude Canal was a canal built to serve the hilly hinterland in the Devon and Cornwall border territory in the United Kingdom, chiefly to bring lime-bearing sand for agricultural fertiliser. The Bude Canal system was one of the most unusual in Britain.

It was remarkable in using inclined planes to haul tub boats on wheels to the upper levels. There were only two conventional locks, in the short broad canal section near the sea at Bude itself. It had a total extent of 35 miles (56 km), and it rose from sea level to an altitude of 433 feet (132 m).

The design of the canal influenced the design of the Rolle Canal.

The coastal area at Bude has sand unusually rich in minerals and the poor agricultural land of the locality was found to benefit considerably from application of the sand. In the pre-industrial age, actually transporting it was difficult, even to land relatively close to the coast.

Several schemes were put forward for canals to bring the sand to the countryside, and these proposals did not lack ambition. One early scheme, conceived by Cornish engineer, John Edyvean aimed at distributing Welsh coal from the port as far inland as on the River Tamar. It gained parliamentary approval for construction in 1774, but financial problems and the Napoleonic Wars, frustrated the proposal.

In 1818, the West Country canal engineer James Green produced a report for canal's backers, and an Act of Parliament was obtained for this more moderate proposal in 1819. After some difficulties in the construction phase the canal was completed and opened on 8 July 1823. Its cost was £118,000.

The project:

The main line of the canal ran south east from Bude to Druxton Wharf near Launceston, with an easterly branch to Blagdonmoor, beyond Holsworthy. There was a northerly feeder arm leading from a new reservoir at Virworthy, now called Lower Tamar Lake.