Exchequer - History of The Exchequer in England and Wales

History of The Exchequer in England and Wales

At an early stage in England (certainly by 1176, the 23rd year of the Reign of Henry II which is the date of the Dialogue concerning the Exchequer), the Exchequer was split into two components: the purely administrative Exchequer of Receipt, which collected revenue, and the judicial Exchequer of Pleas, a court concerned with the King's revenue.

According to the Dialogue concerning the Exchequer, an early medieval work describing the practice of the Exchequer, the Exchequer itself referred to the cloth laid across a large table, 10 feet by 5 feet (with a lip around the edge "4 fingers high"), upon which counters were placed representing various values. The name referred to the resemblance of the table to a chess board (French: échiquier).

The term "Exchequer" then came to refer to the twice yearly meetings held at Easter and Michaelmas, at which government financial business was transacted and an audit held of sheriffs' returns.

Under Henry I, the procedure adopted for the audit involved the Treasurer drawing up a summons to be sent to each Sheriff, which he was required to answer. The Treasurer called on each Sheriff to give an account of the income in his shire due from royal demesne lands and from the county farm. The Chancellor of the Exchequer then questioned him concerning debts owed by private individuals. The results of the audit were recorded in a series of records known as the Pipe Rolls. Until the 19th century, the records of the Exchequer were kept in the "Pell Office", adjacent to Westminster Hall. The office was so named after the skins (i.e., pelts) from which the rolls were made.