A History of Soil Survey

The development of soil survey in England and Wales

From the Soil Survey of England and Wales to Cranfield University

Soil survey activities in England and Wales were undertaken systematically only from the 1950's. Before that there were attempts to highlight the national soil resources of the two countries, but it was not until the establishment of the Soil Survey or England and Wales (or 'SSEW') at Rothamsted Experimental Station in Hertfordshire in 1954 that this process commenced in earnest. The National Soil Resources Institute (NSRI) at Cranfield University, and today the Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute (CSAI) and the Cranfield Environmental and Agri-Informatics Institute (CEAI) are the direct descendents of this organisation and is the custodian of all the national soils information and data gathered during the survey.

The development and history of soil survey in England and Wales is presented in this short video.

The video presentation continues with a description of the soil classification system, also describing the uses this soils information is put to today.