The River Moselle, also referred to as Moselle Brook, is in North London

North London

North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...

 and flows through Tottenham

Tottenham

Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...

 towards the Lea Valley

Lea Valley

The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area...

. The river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 was originally a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the River Lea, but it now flows into Pymmes Brook

Pymmes Brook

Pymmes Brook is located in North London and named after William Pymme, a local land owner. It is a minor tributary of the River Lea. The brook mostly flows through urban areas and is particularly prone to flooding in its lower reaches. To alleviate the problem the brook has been culverted in many...

, another Lea tributary.

The name derives from 'Mosse-Hill' in Hornsey

Hornsey

Hornsey is a district in London Borough of Haringey in north London in England. Whilst Hornsey was formerly the name of a parish and later a municipal borough of Middlesex, today, the name refers only to the London district. It is an inner-suburban area located north of Charing Cross.-Locale:The ...

, the high ground containing one of the river's sources, and bears no direct etymological

Etymology

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

 relationship to the major continental Moselle River

Moselle River

The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....

. The hill area also gave its name to the district of Muswell Hill

Muswell Hill

Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...

 and for a time the river was known as the Moswell.

Unlike the Hackney Brook

Hackney Brook

The Hackney Brook is one of the subterranean rivers of London. It crossed the northern parts of the current London boroughs of Hackney and Islington, emptying into the River Lea at Hackney Wick, with its source in Holloway.- Course of the River :...

 further south, the Moselle is not a "lost river". Although long stretches have been culvert

Culvert

A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...

ed (Moselle Avenue in Noel Park

Noel Park

Noel Park in London, England, is a late-19th early 20th-century planned community consisting of 2,200 model dwellings, designed by Rowland Plumbe. It was developed in open countryside to the north of London in the valley of the River Moselle, about half-way between the historic villages of Highgate...

 runs above the culverted river), it does not disappear into the London sewer system and much of its route can be easily traced. It can be seen flowing overground in Tottenham Cemetery (right) and Lordship Recreation Ground

Lordship Recreation Ground

Lordship Recreation Ground is a public park in Tottenham, London Borough of Haringey.It is over 20 hectares in size. Access is from Lordship Lane and from opposite Downhills Park in Downhills Park Road. It stretches approximately 750m north-south. The River Moselle runs through the park from west...

, and gave its name to the Broadwater Farm

Broadwater Farm

Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate , an experiment in high-density social housing built in the late 1960s...

 area between the two.

Flow and flooding

The Moselle has quite a modest flow in modern times, but it 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

Tottenham High Road

Tottenham High Road is the main thoroughfare through the district of Tottenham, in the London Borough of Haringey. It runs from Edmonton in the North to Stamford Hill in the South . It follows, for the whole of its length, the course of the erstwhile Roman Road, Ermine Street...

 and White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....

 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 runs into Pymme's Brook. The river continued to burst out of its confinement and flood the area around the High Road near the junction of Lordship Lane

Lordship Lane (Haringey)

Lordship Lane connects Wood Green with Tottenham High Road . It lies in the London Borough of Haringey and forms part of the A109 road.-History:...

 and around Scotland Green. This was an annual event until the late 1960s, when the culverting was rebuilt as the area was redeveloped. During the construction of the Broadwater Farm Estate in 1967, there was such concern about flood risks from the river that all public walkways on the estate were elevated to first-floor level and no housing or shops were built at ground level.

External links

• Silentuk.com - Photos from inside the buried River Moselle
• A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5 - Tottenham
• Moselle River Report Some excellent historical photos and accounts
• http://www.lordshiprec.org.uk/about-the-park/history/moselle-river-history/ A history of The Moselle on the Friends of Lordship Recreation Ground website