Historic maritime charts from the Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson archive (DCMS) DCMS defers export licence until November, giving museums time to raise the capital for the collection
A historic archive documenting Britain’s rise as the world’s leading maritime power has been placed under a temporary export bar in the hope it can be saved for the nation.
A temporary export bar has been placed on the Historic British Maritime Chart Collection, an extraordinary archive from Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson – Britain’s most significant commercial chart makers from the late 18th and 19th centuries – valued at £6m.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport hopes that a UK museum or institution will step forward to acquire the collection, which represents the largest surviving archive documenting the work of commercial chart-making firms from this era. It said the archive represents an important source of knowledge relating to British commercial chartmaking at its prime.
The decision to defer an export licence follows advice from the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.
The collection spans over 200 working charts, rare maritime atlases in their original ‘blueback’ bindings, and unique artefacts including a copper plate for an original chart by explorer James Cook and a chair believed to have been used by Lord Nelson. These firms were essential to Britain’s expanding maritime power during the period when the nation rose from being one of several competing European powers to become the dominant global force of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Reviewing Committee said that the collection met all three Waverley criteria for its outstanding connection with our history and national life, its outstanding aesthetic importance, and its outstanding significance to the study of British commercial chart making, the British Empire and naval history.
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “I hope that a museum or institution can come forward to help secure this collection for future generations so that researchers and the public can learn about this crucial chapter in British history.”
The decision on the export licence application will be deferred until 10 November 2025. At the end of the initial deferral period, there will be a 15-business-day consideration window for any formal offer to purchase the collection at the recommended price of £6,000,000 (plus VAT which can be reclaimed by an eligible institution). A second deferral period of six months will follow if an Option Agreement is signed.
