River Ouzel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

River Lovat redirects here. For a river in Russia, see Lovat River.

The River Ouzel (anciently called the River Lovat) is a river in England, which is a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows 20 miles north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell.

Nowadays it is usually called the River Ouzel, except near Newport Pagnell where both names are used. The name Lovat was recorded (in the form "Lovente") in the thirteenth century,[1] a map of 1724 marks the river as "Lowsel R",[2] and a map surveyed in 1765 shows it as "Ouzel River".[3] The modern Ordnance Survey uses only the name Ouzel.

From springs just north of Dagnall, the river initially forms the boundary between Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It is joined by the Ouzel Brook from Houghton Regis, by Whistle Brook from Pitstone, and by Clipstone Brook from Milton Bryan. It then flows through Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes (where it is joined by Water Eaton Brook) and finally through Newport Pagnell to its junction with the Great Ouse.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eilert Ekwall, English River Names, Oxford University Press, 1928, p. 263.
  2. ^ Herman Moll, Bedfordshire, reprinted in M. F. Hopkinson, Old County Maps of Bedfordshire, Luton Museum & Art Gallery, 1976, p. 21.
  3. ^ Thomas Jefferys, The County of Bedford, reprinted by Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 1983.