The cut was conceived as a way to provide a more direct route from Lowestoft to Norwich, and was built as part of a larger scheme which included the linking of the River Waveney to Oulton Broad and Lake Lothing.

There was discontent among the merchants of Norwich at the cost of trans-shipment,[2] and allegations of systematic theft of cargo, which resulted in a court case in 1820, when 18 men were convicted of taking the goods and another of receiving it.

[2] Cubitt's first plan involved general improvements to the River Yare, and the dredging of a deeper channel along the southern edge of Breydon Water.

He estimated that this would cost £35,000, and his plan was published in 1818, but there were immediate objections from the Corporation of Yarmouth, who called on the engineer John Rennie for advice.

The lock was 150 by 50 feet (46 by 15 m), and included a system of sluices, which used water from Oulton Broad to clear a channel to the sea through Lake Lothing.

[8] The original capital was insufficient to finance the construction, and so the extra £50,000 authorised by the Public Works Loans Act 1817 (57 Geo.

[10] The line from Reedham to Lowestoft runs parallel to the cut and effectively forms the south western bank.

Local opposition was strong, particularly from the yachting community, and control of it passed to the East Suffolk and Norfolk River Board in 1957,[12] under provisions that were part of the British Transport Commission Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz.