River Tove

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From Ox Bridge near Abthorpe

The River Tove is a tributary of the Great Ouse and flows through Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.

The Tove rises in Northamptonshire and flows for around 15 miles past the town of Towcester (which means 'camp on the Tove') before meeting the Ouse near Milton Keynes. Its final 5 miles form part of the border between Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, running alongside the Grand Union Canal.

Name of the river

The Old English name of Towcester, is Tofeceaster, which is believed to be named for the River Tove.[1] This suggests that the Old English name for the Tove was some form of Tofe. Bosworth and Toller's Anglo-Saxon dictionary give the "Scandinavian proper names" Tófi and Tófa for comparison.[2] Tófa, in turn, is a shortened form of Þorfrithr, meaning "beautiful Thor" or "peace of Thor". Whether there is a connection one cannot say: Towceaster was a Danish fortress, but whether its name was given at that time or was a name used before the Norse trod this land, we cannot know.

References

  1. Flavell Edmunds. Traces of History in the Names of Places. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1869. 272.
  2. "Bosworth and Toller