The NLS (National Library of Scotland) maps website is a treasure trove for family historians. It holds thousands of old maps, including Ordnance Survey maps of Scotland, England and Wales from the 1840s to the 1970s, maps of Scotland dating as far back as the 17th century, estate maps, town plans and military maps.
One of the NLS maps’ website’s most useful features is the ability to overlay one map on top of another, with the top layer made semi-transparent so you can compare it with the one beneath. This allows you to compare how a place looked during your ancestor’s life with how it appears now or at some other point in history.
On the NLS maps’ website, the map overlay can be accessed via the georeferenced maps section. Once you’ve found and annotated a map, you can print or save it. You can also access the feature via other parts of the site, including ‘Find by Place’ and ‘Browse by Mapmaker’. Target the map you want, then zoom in to your chosen location and hold Alt as you click on the map to switch to a georeferenced maps view.