We are pleased to be able to provide a unique view of the licensing regime prior to the introduction of Production Licences in 1967. Utilising original hand written ledgers as held in Whitehall archives and on-line records from the London Gazette, we have been able to piece together a complete history of Prospecting Licences, as issued between 1935 and 1965 (extant until 1968).

Through the Historic View on the Interactive Map, we have added an additional layer constructed from a legacy BP base map, displaying a snapshot of the Prospecting Licence coverage in 1966. Prior to 1967, licence boundaries were not based on the UK National Grid.

The hyperlink on the Table Of Contents, provides access to a full chronological history of all Prospecting Licences, including additional links to the original London Gazette publications detailing the geographical definitions of each licence at the time of initial award (reproduced with kind permission of the London Gazette). General background information on Prosepcting Licences, is provided via the information icon in the results box.