A
manorial roll or
court roll is the
roll or record kept of the activities of a
manorial court, in particular containing entries relating to the rents and holdings, deaths, alienations, and successions of the customary tenants or
copyholders. The records were invariably kept in roll form in the
Middle Ages, but in the post-medieval period were more usually entered into
volumes. Despite this change of format, the records often continued to be known as
court rolls, although the term
court books is also found.