 Precisely what happened to Pershore in the later 10th century is poorly documented, but some sources seem to hint that it went into decline during the succession crisis which emerged in the wake of King Edgar's death.William of Malmesbury says that "it, too, like the others, decayed to a pitiful extent, and was reduced by more than a half".According to Leland, the "Annals of Pershore" hold an earl called "Delfer" responsible for depriving the abbey of several of its lands.