Upper Wat Ing

This is a large house, dating to the 17th century, with earlier origins and alterations from the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of coursed squared stone with a stone slate roof. According to a report by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), the house likely began as a timber-framed hall and crosswing around 1500, with a lower end rebuilt in 1638 and a stone encasement and west wing added in 1668. The property includes a through passage.

The north (entrance) front originally featured three gabled bays, though the left bay was rebuilt after a fire and now projects with a single-pitched roof. A single-storey, pent-roofed projection sits at the front, and a gutter spout is located in the angle with the central bay. The central bay’s ground floor is partially hidden by a 20th-century addition; the first floor retains a three-over-five-light double-chamfered mullion window under a dripmould, incorporating a blind arched light to the left. The right bay has a one-light and a two-light window on the ground floor, with a two-light window above, all with chamfered mullions. The gables are detailed with shaped kneelers, coping, and finials. A large chimney stack rises from the ridge of the left bay, and another is situated between the central and right bays.

The rear features three gabled bays, with the right bay projecting slightly and displaying a plinth. There was formerly a door on the left side, now replaced by a three-light double-chamfered mullion window with a king mullion and hoodmould on the ground floor. Above this, a similar window lacks a king mullion and features roundel stops and the dates '16' '38' carved into the hoodmould. The central bay has a door to the left and a reset bi-cusped lintel dated '1668 (George Towne) above it. Two-light flat-faced mullion windows are present on each floor; a 1842-dated window on the first floor has a decoratively-stopped hoodmould. The left bay has a two-light window on each floor, with the first floor window featuring a hoodmould and terminals with dates '18' '64'. The rear also has shaped kneelers, coping, and finials.

Inside, the cellars feature barrel-vaulted ceilings and stone tables. The central room (the original housebody) has a chamfered fireplace with a deep lintel inscribed '16 LAU DEO 38', a cornice, and a timber relieving arch. To either side of the fireplace are a chamfered quoined basket-arched doorway and a doorway leading to an outshut. The left room also has a large quoined basket-arched fireplace and a doorway to the housebody. The first floor contains a stop-chamfered ogee-arched fireplace and another, Tudor-arched, with a 19th-century grate. A section of the original timber frame is visible between the central and right rooms, showing timbers rising from below, braced to a tiebeam, with mortices for a post to the rail and studwork within the tiebeam.

The house was historically owned by the Waterhouse family from the 16th century until 1616, after which George Towne acquired it in 1625.