The Pipe Rolls

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The Pipe Rolls are financial records held by the Exchequer, dating from the twelfth century. They were early audits by the Exchequer. Various sheets of parchment were fixed together and rolled tightly for storage, looking like a pipe, from which the name derives.

Pipe rolls record payments made to government, debts owed to the Crown and expenditure of royal officials.

Pipe Rolls cover the period 1129 to 1832.

The National Archives at Kew hold Medieval financial records: pipe rolls 1130-c.1300 (Collection E 372). See also the Pipe Roll Society.