Parchment

Writing material made from animal skin, usually calf, sheep or goat. The skin was soaked in lime to loosen the hair, scraped, stretched on a wooden frame, pared thin with a curved knife, dried under tension and smoothed with pumice. Parchment was used for books, charters, writs and royal accounts such as the Pipe Rolls. It was costly, and paper was not yet in use in England.

Sources: makingmanuscriptsblog.wordpress.com · historicengland.org.uk