The Bush Inn

The Bush Inn in Morwenstow, Cornwall, is a historic 16th–17th-century stone-built coaching inn located near the Atlantic coast, historically serving travelers and local farmers; it sits close to the parish church of St Morwenna and is noted for its proximity to rugged cliffs and coastal footpaths. The building retains traditional features such as low-beamed rooms, an old bar area, and stone floors; records and local accounts associate it with shipwreck rescues carried out by the parish vicar, Robert Stephen Hawker, in the 19th century, and with the village’s maritime history.

Historically the inn has been linked to local agricultural and coastal life: it provided lodging and ale for drovers and fishermen, and acted as a community gathering place for the surrounding rural parish. The Bush Inn’s location near dramatic cliffs made it part of the network of coastal inns frequented by nineteenth-century visitors and writers interested in Cornwall’s rugged landscape; surviving structural elements and archival references indicate its long-standing role in Morwenstow’s social and maritime history.

The Bush Inn