This roll is the earliest court roll preserved in the Bedfordshire County Record Office. It is also the earliest document in a series of Chaigrave rolls and deeds, dating from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, deposited in the County Record Office by the Mercers’ Company of London. Its value for the local historian lies in the fact that, with the exception of one other short roll of isolated courts, one rental and an extent, all dated in the fourteenth century and also in this collection, no other direct records for this parish in the medieval period have yet been discovered.

For examples of the varied information to be gleaned from the records of an early manor court the student may consult several good rolls already in print. The most comprehensive for secular manors are ‘ Court Rolls of the Manor of Hales, 1272-1307,’ Ed. J. Amphlett etc. (Worcester Historical Society, 1910-33), and 6 Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, 1274-1331,’ Ed. P. W. Baildon etc. (Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, xxix, xxxvi, lvii, lxxviii, cix, 1901-45). Yet while such courts all followed a general procedure, each one had its own peculiarities, and also gave expression to local customs : thus there is still need for studies of rolls from the smaller manors of which Chaigrave in the south of Bedfordshire affords a good example.

I am greatly indebted to Mr. L. F. Salzman, for constantly allowing me to draw on his vast store of knowledge of medieval history, and to Professor V. H. Galbraith for advice as to the handwritings on the roll, and on a number of palaeographical uncertainties. I should like to thank the many others who have answered specific questions. It is a pleasure to express here my gratitude to Miss L. J. Redstone who has read the introduction and parts of the text and who first inspired my interest in manorial records. The University of London has made a grant from its Central Research Funds towards the cost of some of the photostats used for this work.