The name 'Bewsey' is believed to have been derived from the French Beau Se, or "is beautiful" and likely refers to the hall's position on the edge of Burton Wood, next to Sankey Brook.

To build the house, Boteler obtained lands in Burton Wood from his feudal Lord, Earl Ferrar, in 1260 and from Prince Edmund in 1270.

In 1463, his father Sir John FitzJohn le Boteler was murdered and Thomas's elder brother, William, inherited the estates.

Bewsey Old Hall passed to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, in 1586 in settlement of gambling debts when Edward Boteler died without an heir.

[3] The new building was almost certainly designed by W. G. Habershon, but Lady Lilford disliked the house so much that she refused to live in it and it was largely demolished in the 1940s, apart from a fragment of the west wing.

Bewsey's remaining medieval structures were demolished during the 18th century, when the hall was extended, and landscaping works filled in parts of the moat and enlarged others as water features.

They then crossed the moat in a coracle like boat and stole into Sir John's bedchamber; a struggle ensued with the chamberlain, who was also murdered.

Despite local campaigns against it, a public inquiry, held in May and September 2011 granted permission for seven flats to be built in the Grade II* listed hall.