The canal was designed by John Millington, who acted as engineer for the project, although the actual construction was carried out by Thomas Hughes, who had previously worked on the construction of the Caledonian Canal, the Dingwall Canal and the Union Canal, all in Scotland. Millington came from Hammersmith in London. The North Walsham and Dilham Canal was his only canal-building venture. Later in his career he went to the United States of America and wrote "Elements of Civil Engineering" which includes much information on canal building.