The Moselle Brook,[1][2][3] also referred to as River Moselle, is a brook which flows North London, originating in Muswell Hill and Highgate,[4] through Tottenham and towards the Lea Valley. It was originally a tributary of the River Lea, but it now flows into Pymmes Brook, another Lea tributary.

The Moselle Brook visible above ground on its way through Tottenham Cemetery.

The name derives from Mosse-Hill in Hornsey, which also gave its name to the modern district of Muswell Hill, and bears no relationship to that of the Moselle river which flows from France to Germany. For a time it was known as the Moswell.[5]

The brook flows north-eastward to Lordship Recreation Ground, then to High Road by the junction with White Hart Lane, then along High Road to a point near Scotland Green, and then flows eastward to the River Lea.[5] It now has a low flow, but once posed a serious flooding threat to Tottenham.

Until the 19th century, the whole of the river remained above ground, but in 1836 the stretch around Tottenham High Road and White Hart Lane was covered. More culverting occurred in 1906 and subsequent years, so that now the river is completely enclosed from Tottenham Cemetery to the point at which it runs into Pymmes Brook.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Moselle Brook Water Body". Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. August 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  2. ^ JBA Consulting (February 2015). "Haringey Council - Strategic Flood Risk Assessment" (PDF). Haringey: Haringey London Borough Council. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  3. ^ Laverty, David (18 July 2022). Haringey Watercourses (PDF) (Map). Haringey: Haringey London Borough Council. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  4. ^ The Moselle has a number of sources on the high ground from Muswell Hill to Highgate - Albert Pinching & David Bell, Haringey's Hidden Streams Revealed, 2005
  5. ^ a b Baggs, A P; Bolton, Diane K; Scarff, Eileen P; Tyack, G C (1976). "'Tottenham: Introduction', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, ed. T F T Baker and R B Pugh". London: British History Online. pp. 307–309. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Forget France - London Has Its Own River Moselle". The Londonist. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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51°36′16″N 0°04′25″W / 51.6045°N 0.0736°W / 51.6045; -0.0736