The Bull

The Bull sits prominently on Highgate Hill and has served as a coaching inn since 1721, providing rest and refreshment for travelers making the steep climb out of London. For centuries, coaches would stop here, horses would be changed, and weary passengers would take their ease. According to numerous reports spanning more than a century, the phantom sounds and sights of those coaching days continue to manifest, with witnesses reporting encounters with ghostly carriages and their long-dead passengers.

The most dramatic paranormal event is the appearance of a phantom horse-drawn carriage that is seen and heard approaching the pub, particularly on foggy nights. Witnesses describe hearing the distinctive sound of iron-rimmed wheels on cobblestones, horses’ hooves, and the creaking of leather and wood growing louder as the coach approaches. Some have reported actually seeing a shadowy, translucent carriage materialize briefly before vanishing. The phantom coach always appears to be coming up the hill toward the pub, as countless real coaches did over the centuries. The sound of the coachman’s voice calling “Whoa!” and the horses stamping to a stop has been reported multiple times.

Inside The Bull, staff and patrons encounter other manifestations from its coaching days. The ghosts of travelers in period costume from various eras appear briefly in corridors and rooms, sometimes looking lost or confused, as if still trying to find their way to bed after a long journey. The sound of hurried footsteps on stairs and in passages suggests invisible people constantly coming and going. Doors open and close on their own as if admitting ghostly guests. The smell of horses, hay, and old leather occasionally permeates certain areas, particularly near where the stables once stood.

Staff members report objects moving on their own, particularly luggage or bags that seem to be relocated by invisible hands. Some have heard the sound of horses whinnying and stamping coming from the area of the old stables, long since converted to other uses. Cold spots form inexplicably in corridors and rooms, and some visitors report experiencing sudden overwhelming feelings of exhaustion or travel-weariness, possibly residual emotions from centuries of weary travelers. The haunting is considered active but harmless, a ghostly echo of the pub’s long history as a waystation on one of England’s great roads.