Under Edward the Confessor Pickwell and Leesthorpe manors and in all but their rectories were held by Ordmar, and in 1086 of the king by Geoffrey de Wirce. In 1129 Pickwell and Leesthorpe were held by Roger de Mowbray (Lord of Montbray) who had acquired all Geoffrey's land in Leicestershire. The Mowbray family continued to hold Pickwell and Leesthorpe as tenants-in-chief until the 15th century. After the death of John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, in 1476, and of his daughter and heir Anne in 1481, the Mowbray estates were divided between the representatives of her two co-heirs, one of whom, William, Lord Berkeley, obtained the overlordship of Pickwell and Leesthorpe for considerable time for his family: last mentioned in connection with Pickwell and Leesthorpe in 1630. Under the Mowbrays the abbey of Vaudey held the manor at Leesthorpe in the old parish, and in the 12th century another holding, at Pickwell and Leesthorpe, was held by the Camville family.