Sandplace gets its name from a wharf on the river bank where sea-sand was stored.This, along with lime (imported from Plymouth and burnt in nearby kilns) was used to improve the acid soils of the area. The fertiliser was transported north out of the village on the
Liskeard and Looe Union Canal which was completed in 1828. With the exploitation of copper and tin ores in the
Caradon area from 1836 onwards, and the opening of the
Liskeard and Caradon Railway in 1844, the canal was not able to cope with the traffic and congestion meant that trade was being lost to competing routes via
Calstock and
St Germans. A railway line was opened for goods between Moorswater and Looe on 27 December 1860, and the canal went into gradual decline, finally closing in 1910. ==References==