see also 'Descriptions and Travel'
Before the Norman Conquest Azor the son of Tored, a thegn of King Edward, held the manor, but afterwards the Conquerer gave it to Earl Aubrey, but in 1086 it was held by King William as 4 hides and 1 virgate. By the reign of Henry I, Robert son of William de Meppershall was lord of Biddlesden. In the reign of Stephen, it was given to the Earl of Leicester, whose steward, Arnold de Bois, founded the abbey here. The abbey continued to hold the manor until its dissolution in 1538.
1086 there were two mills, valued at 28d, which belonged to the manor. They are mentioned in 1278-9 as standing one within and one without the abbey. By the 13th or 14th century there was a windmill there as well, later called 'Walkermyll'.
The hamlet of Evershaw, in the time of Edward the Confessor, was held by 'a certain bandy-leg' as 1 hide, and in 1086 it was still held by the same man in 'almoin of the king', although the land was considered to be part of Lewin of Nuneham's holding. in the 12th century it was held by Pain de Beauchamp, and the overlordship was still in this family by the end of the 13th century.
The family who held under the Beauchamps took its name from the place. William de Evershaw, called lord of Evershaw, flourished in the 12th century.
Biddlesden continued to hold a portion of Evershaw, including a mill, until the Dissolution, after which date it apparently became merged in the manor of Biddlesden. According to a conveyance of 1540 the Biddlesden estate comprised Evershaw Park.
