River Mole in 1613. In John Speed's 1611 map of Surrey this stretch of the river is denoted by a series of hills accompanied by the legend "The river runneth under". However the river's name is unlikely to have derived from this behaviour: The "Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names" suggests that "Mole" either comes from the Latin "mola" (a mill) or is a back-formation from "Molesey" (Mul's island). In John Rocque's 1768 map of Surrey, the name "Moulsey River" is used. In common with much of the rest of the Weald, the earliest evidence of human settlement along the Upper Mole
Star-nosed mole Star-nosed mole The star-nosed mole ("Condylura cristata") is a small mole found in wet low areas in the northern parts of North America. It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura. The star-nosed mole is easily identifiable by the twenty-two pink fleshy appendages ringing its snout which is used as a touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, known as Eimer's organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around. With the help of its Eimer's organs, it may be perfectly poised to detect seismic wave vibrations. The extremely sensitive star-like structure