River Moselle (London)
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The River Moselle or 'Moselle Brook' is a river in North London, flowing mostly through Tottenham towards the Lee Valley. It was originally a genuine tributary of the River Lee, but now flows into another Lee tributary, Pymme's Brook, which appears to have been extended artificially in parallel with the Lee, possibly as far back as the 17th century.
The river's name bears no direct etymological relationship to the major continental Moselle River. Instead it derives from 'Mosse-Hill' in Hornsey, the high ground where lies the river's source and which also gave its name to the district of Muswell Hill - for a time the river was known as the Moswell.
Unlike the Hackney Brook further south, the Moselle is not a lost river - though long stretches of it have been culverted, it does not disappear into the London sewer system, and much of its route can be easily traced. In fact, it can be seen flowing overground in Tottenham Cemetery (right) and Lordship Recreation Ground.
As can be seen, the Moselle is quite a modest flow in modern times, but it once posed a serious flooding threat to Tottenham. Until the 19th century, however, the whole of the river remained above ground. Finally, In 1836, the stretch around Tottenham High Road and White Hart Lane was covered over. More major culverting occurred in 1906 and subsequent years, so that now the river is completely enclosed from Tottenham Cemetery to the point at which it now runs into Pymme's Brook.
Even so, the river continued to burst out of its confinement and flood the area around the High Road near the junction of Lordship Lane and around Scotland Green. This was an annual event until the late 1960s, when the culverting was rebuilt as the area was redeveloped.
[edit] References
- A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5 - Tottenham
- Moselle River Report Some excellent historical photos and accounts
