A statute roll is a manuscript parchment roll with the text of statutes passed by the medieval Parliament of England.
[1][2][3] At the end of a medieval parliament, a collection of acts of a public character was made in the form of a statute roll and given the title of the king's regnal year; each particular act of Parliament forming a section, or a chapter, of the complete statute, so that, e.g. the Vagabonds Act 1383 became 7 Ric.
The idea that Magna Carta was the first statute on the first roll is a mistake.
Until 1483, parliament rolls recorded parliamentary proceedings (petitions, bills and answers, both public and private) which formed the basis of Acts of Parliament, but seldom the statutes themselves.
From 1483 to 1534, both public and private Acts were enrolled in parliament rolls; after 1535, only those private Acts for which an enrolment fee was paid appear, and from 1593 only the titles of private Acts are mentioned in the parliament rolls.