River Ouzel
| River Ouzel River Lovat | |
|---|---|
 River Ouzel betweenNorthallandBillington | |
  | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Counties | BedfordshireandBuckinghamshire |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Chiltern Hills |
| Mouth | River Great Ouse |
• location | Newport Pagnell |
• coordinates | 52°05′15″N0°43′00″W/ 52.0876°N 0.71675°W |
| Length | 20 miles (32 km) |
TheRiver Ouzel/ˈuːzəl/,also known as theRiver Lovat,is ariverin England, and atributaryof theRiver Great Ouse.It rises in theChiltern Hillsand flows 20 miles (32 km) north to join the Ouse atNewport Pagnell.
It is usually called theRiver Ouzel,except near Newport Pagnell where both names are used. The nameLovatwas 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 modernOrdnance Surveyuses only the nameOuzel,except north ofWillen Lakewhere it is marked as 'River Ouzel or Lovat'.[4]
Course
[edit]Fromspringsjust north ofDagnall,the river initially forms the boundary betweenBedfordshireandBuckinghamshire.It is joined by the Ouzel Brook fromHoughton Regis,and by Whistle Brook (also known atIvinghoeasWhizzle Brook)[5]fromPitstone.Near Grove Lock, just south ofLeighton Buzzard,it was once joined by Ledburn Brook, which has since been diverted into theGrand Junction Canal(now theGrand Union Canal). At Leighton Buzzard, the river is joined by Clipstone Brook fromMilton BryanviaHockliffeandClipstone,and to the north of the town the excess water from the canal is released into the river at the Twelve Arches. The river then flows throughMilton Keynes,where the flood risk it presents (both locally and to communities downstream on the Ouse) is managed by two largebalancing lakes,Caldecotte Lakeand Willen Lake. After flowing east under theM1,the river is joined by Crawley Brook fromHusborne Crawley.Finally, the river flows through Newport Pagnell to its junction with the Great Ouse.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^Eilert Ekwall,English River Names,Oxford University Press,1928, p. 263.
- ^Herman Moll,Bedfordshire,reprinted in M. F. Hopkinson,Old County Maps of Bedfordshire,Luton Museum & Art Gallery,1976, p. 21.
- ^Thomas Jefferys,The County of Bedford,reprinted by Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 1983.
- ^Ordnance Survey,Explorer 192,edition A, 1998.
- ^F. G. Gurney,Yttingaford and the tenth-century bounds of Chalgrave and Linslade,Bedfordshire Historical Record Society 5, 1920, p. 175, note 25.
