The Bude Canal was originally planed as a highly ambitious project to build about 95 miles of canal for taking sand from Bude, England to the Cornish hinterland to improve the quality of the land.

An act of parliament was gained in support of this proposal in 1774. A number of factors meant that this project came to nothing until 1819 when a second act was obtained to allow for the building of a shorter canal a little over 40 miles in length mainly based on tub boats . When the canal was completed in 1825 it consisted of 2 miles of barge canal connecting the sea to the base of a string of inclined planes which transported the tub boats that were used on the rest of the canal between the various levels of the network.

In 1891 competition from the railways forced the canal owners to obtain an act of closure on the tub boat section of the canal and in 1901 the remainder of the canal was brought by Stratton and Bude Urban District Council . Today the sea lock is still in working order and the canal is in water as far as the base of the first inclined plane. The sea lock though is the only lock on this section still in working order and as such navigation is not possible along the whole network.