Soilscapes is a 1:250,000 scale, simplified soils dataset covering England and Wales. It was created from the far more detailed National Soil Map (NATMAP Vector) held by Cranfield University, with the purpose of communicating effectively a general understanding of the variations which occur between soil types, and how soils affect the environment and landscape of the two countries. Soil exerts a strong influence on our whole ecosystem, being the foundation for many of the ecosystem services and functions recognised, and is a fragile resource that needs to be understood and protected.Soilscapes is one of our most popular datasets - and to encourage a wider understanding of soils, web access to this data is now made freely accessible. Soilscapes does away with confusing terminology, enabling informed decision-making by non-soil scientists who need to understand soil and how it affects broad landscapes. Using the Soilscapes web mapping service, it is simple to build up a good understand of many fundamental soil-landscape processes for any region across England and Wales.For more information about soils and soils data please visit the LandIS - Land Information System www.landis.org.uk