Catalogue description Records of the Auditor

The Exchequer, which handled the bishop's revenues from all sources, existed as early as the twelfth century, although scarcely any records survive from before the fifteenth century. It is known to have differed from the royal Exchequer both in structure and procedure, but its administrative methods are imperfectly understood.

There were two sides to the Exchequer's business: accounting and audit. All officers who handled revenue, whether from palatine rights or from the bishop's estates, were obliged to submit detailed annual accounts to the senior officials of the Exchequer, the Receiver General and the Receiver, or Clerk of the Great Receipt. These accounts were then summarised in the Receiver General's account. An annual audit of all the accounts was undertaken by a panel of auditors appointed by the bishop. For this, all accounting officers submitted their accounts, with subsidiary records.

In later centuries, the chief officer of the Exchequer was the Auditor, appointed until 1836 by the bishop's letters patent. The termination of the Palatinate left him responsible only for estate revenues; when the administration of the estates passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the same year, the Auditor and his records came under their jurisdiction.

The Durham Exchequer never developed any common law or equity jurisdiction, unlike the royal Exchequer. In the palatinate, all legal proceedings concerning the bishop's finances were heard in Chancery.