The Well House Hotel and Restaurant is a Grade II listed building in the South Oxfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 December 1985. House, hotel, restaurant. 9 related planning applications.

The Well House Hotel and Restaurant

WRENN ID
burning-bailey-fog
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
South Oxfordshire
Constituency
Henley and Thame MP: Freddie van Mierlo (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
11 December 1985
Type
House, hotel, restaurant
Address
The Well House Hotel and Restaurant, 34 and 36, High Street, Watlington, OX49 5PY
OS grid reference
SU 688 945
Coordinates
51.64559, -1.00615
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Well House Hotel and Restaurant comprises a group of buildings dating back to the 16th century, significantly remodelled in the early 18th century and again in the late 18th century. Originally timber-framed, the front of the main building is of knapped flint rubble with brick quoins and dressings under a hipped old tile roof, with a brick rear end stack. The building has two storeys, a basement, and an attic, with a three-window front. A flat-roofed hood covers the 20th-century front entrance. The building has brick segmental arched cellar windows. The ground floor has flat arches over 20th-century sash windows, and the first floor has flat brick arches over horned sashes. A chequer brick storey band is present, along with a moulded and modillioned wood cornice, topped by a 20th-century gabled roof dormer. A 20th-century rear extension has been added.

The interior includes an early 18th-century cellar. Visible timber framing and transverse beams with mortices are present, along with a first-floor room to the rear featuring arch-braced tie beams. A quarter-turn staircase leads to the rear right. The eaves were raised and a collar-truss roof was built in the early 18th century. The original 16th-century house was extended to the rear and was once connected to the front range by a first-floor gallery on the right.

Adjoining the main building at No. 36 is a house dating back to the 17th century and remodelled in the late 18th century. Originally timber-framed, it has a colourwashed brick front, with timber framing to the rear, and a gabled old tile roof and a brick rear lateral stack. This part has a two-unit plan and two storeys, with a three-window range on the front. It features flat brick arches over a 20th-century door and 8-pane horned sashes, along with flat brick arches over late 19th-century two-light first-floor casements. A dentilled eaves line is present. There are 20th-century rear extensions, and a 19th/20th century left extension which is not of special architectural interest. The interior showcases exposed timber framing to the rear. Features include a raised first floor from the late 18th century, a late 18th-century quarter-turn staircase adjoining the rear fireplace, and arch-braced tie beams to a 17th-century queen-post roof.

Local climate

The Well House Hotel and Restaurant sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 82% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 80% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 4 transactions since 1995
  • Related listed building consents — 9 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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