The claim
Close to the wild clifftops where the eccentric Parson Hawker once wrote poetry, the Bush Inn at Crosstown claims hospitality stretching back to around 950 AD. Its stone-flagged rooms are said to be haunted by a ghostly sailor. Still very much alive in 2026, it serves food all day and hosts folk nights and its own music festival.
What the records show
The pub cites hospitality from around 950 AD and a 13th-century building, and offers no documentation for either. Two searches on 12 September 2026 turned up nothing to support them and two blanks worth recording. Historic England's list holds 23 entries in Morwenstow parish - the church, six chest tombs, the vicarage, Tonacombe Manor, Hawker's hut, the ship's figurehead by the lych gate - and not the inn; the only listed house at Crosstown is Sunshine Alley next door, which the list calls a house, probably C18. And Sabine Baring-Gould's life of Robert Stephen Hawker, the vicar who made this parish famous, names no inn in it at all. Neither is a disproof, but both are places the claim would show if it had a record behind it. Treat both dates as tradition.
What to look for inside
- Claims origins around 950 AD
- Reputedly one of Cornwall's most haunted pubs
Visiting
The Bush Inn is in Morwenstow, England, at Crosstown, Morwenstow, Bude EX23 9SR. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- www.thebushinnmorwenstow.com/
- harbourholidays.co.uk/oldest-pubs-cornwall/
- camra.org.uk/pubs/bush-inn-morwenstow-138970
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1711879
- www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1141815&resourceID=5
- archive.org/details/vicarofmorwen00bari
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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