The River Ouzel , also known as the River Lovat, is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in England, and a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...

. It rises in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

and flows north to join the Ouse at

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The town is separated from the rest of the u ...

. 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, a map of 1724 marks the river as "Lowsel R", and a map surveyed in 1765 shows it as 'Ouzel River'. The modern

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

uses only the name ''Ouzel'', except north of Willen Lake where it is marked as 'River Ouzel or Lovat'.

Course

From springs just north of Dagnall, the river initially forms the boundary between

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. It is joined by the Ouzel Brook from

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn and Sewell. Houghton Regis, together with its contiguous neighbours of Dunsta ...

, and by Whistle Brook (also known at

Ivinghoe Ivinghoe is a town and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is northwest of London, north of Tring and south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone. Et ...

as ''Whizzle Brook'')F. G. Gurney, ''Yttingaford and the tenth-century bounds of Chalgrave and Linslade'', Bedfordshire Historical Record Society 5, 1920, p. 175, note 25. from

Pitstone Pitstone (formerly Pightelsthorn, with possible variation Pychelesthorn in 1399) is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England. It is at the foot of the central range of the Chiltern Hills, centred east of Aylesbury and south o ...

. Near Grove Lock, just south of

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/ Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is nor ...

, it was once joined by Ledburn Brook, which has since been diverted into the

Grand Junction Canal The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the English Midlands, Midlan ...

(now the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

). At Leighton Buzzard, the river is joined by Clipstone Brook from

Milton Bryan Milton Bryan is a village and civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace the ...

via Hockliffe and Clipstone, 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 through

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

, where the flood risk it presents (both locally and to communities downstream on the Ouse) is managed by two large

balancing lake A balancing lake (also flood basin ) is a term used in the UK to describe a retention basin used to control flooding by temporarily storing flood waters. The term balancing pond is also used, though typically for smaller storage facilities for ...

s, Caldecotte Lake and Willen Lake. After flowing east under the M1, the river is joined by Crawley Brook from Husborne Crawley. Finally, the river flows through Newport Pagnell to its junction with the Great Ouse.

References

{{Authority control Milton Keynes Ouzel Ouzel Ouzel