History Pipe rolls

entrance national archives, pipe rolls held

although earliest pipe roll dates 1130, 31st year of king henry s reign, clear being produced exchequer before then, 1130 roll not experiment. shows no hesitancy in use of accounts, or lack of continuity previous years. extract earlier pipe roll, 25th regnal year of henry or 1124, has been found in 14th-century manuscript in cotton library @ british museum. when pipe rolls began produced debated amongst historians. hold date henry s reign, whether or late in reign, others feel introduced king william (reigned 1066–1087). precursors of records date anglo-saxon period, historian pauline stafford argues financial records must have been kept in form during reigns of cnut (reigned 1016–1035), Æthelred ii (reigned 978–1016), , edgar peaceable (reigned 959–975). there reference king s rolls in writ 1110, purports grant henry abbot of westminster of ten shillings, writ may forgery, or parts of may genuine interpolations. writ exists in copy in later cartulary, , abbey of westminster known have forged number of other writs or charters, writ not solid source royal rolls being kept 1110.

after 1 surviving roll henry s reign, no further pipe rolls survived reign, nor preserved reign of successor, king stephen (reigned 1135–1154). second year of king henry ii s reign, or 1155, once more survive. unclear if pipe rolls created during stephen s reign , did not survive, or if conditions during stephen s reign precluded creation of pipe rolls. continuously years of king henry ii s reign, pipe rolls survive, break in last years of king john s reign (reigned 1199–1216).

the surviving pipe roll 1130 records income of £24,500. figure dwarfed amount recorded on pipe roll owed king, totals £68,850. income record in years of henry ii smaller of 1 surviving year henry i. pipe rolls of henry record income £10,000 £15,000. end of henry ii s reign, royal income recorded in pipe rolls had risen £20,000. end of john s reign saw recorded income of £30,000, henry iii s reign recorded £8,000 in years, rising £16,500 1225. not rolls years of henry ii s reign show less income reaching exchequer during henry s reign, rolls haphazard , not accurate , detailed rolls dating later part of reign. nor produced either later rolls or roll of 1130.

by time of king john, pipe rolls growing unwieldy, many fines , fees being recorded, making finding of information in rolls difficult. eventually, after experimentation, 1206 system whereby actual detailed receipts recorded in set of receipt rolls , aggregates entered in pipe rolls settled on. further reform in 1236 resulted in debts being recorded in separate estreat rolls, , totals entered pipe rolls. in 1284 statutes of rhuddlan issued, further reformed accounting systems, , further reduced detail contained on pipe rolls. @ time, large number of unrecoverable debts removed rolls, process had been attempted in 1270. attempt in 1270 had marked old debts d , stipulated not re-entered future pipe rolls unless paid off. had not worked, , in 1284 old debts recorded on separate roll. statutes in 1284 laid out procedure debtors documentation of payment of debt hadn t been accepted in past have documentation accepted, helping clear out of backlogged debts on books.

yet more extraneous details removed pipe rolls under cowick ordinance of june 1323, along further ordinances in 1324 , 1326, of done during time walter de stapledon held office of treasurer. prior reform rolls had become clogged debts, , clauses 2 through 8 of cowick ordinance attempted return rolls exposition of accounts. attempted reform @ time removal of customs receipts, military accounts, rolls. new offices in exchequer created, in attempt speed auditing process , lessen time took prepare pipe rolls , other financial records. attempt remove non-exchequer accounts did remove types of records pipe rolls, , further reforms in 1368 created set of foreign rolls, , extraneous records in pipe rolls transferred rolls.

in 1462, exchequer told no longer summon audit farms or feefarms worth on 40 shillings per year, these supervised newly appointed board of receivers or approvers.

the pipe rolls series ended in 1834 when office in charge of creation, pipe office, abolished.

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