Close writs
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
In English law
Certain letters of the king, sealed with his great seal, and directed to particular persons and for particular purposes, which, not being proper for public inspection, are closed up and sealed on the outside, and are thence calied "writs close."
2 Bl. Comm. 346; Sewell, Sheriffs, 372.
Write directed to the sheriff, instead of to the lord.
3 Reeve, Eng. Law, 45.