Data are presented of enzymatic activity of soil collected from paired intensive and extensive grassland systems including low and high pH parent soils, from 32 sites across the United Kingdom. The samples were collected during winter and spring 2015-2016 by project staff experienced in soil core collection. Dry soil samples were analysed for a suit of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities. Fluorescently labeled substrates were used to enable the activity of the following enzymes to be measured. All analysis was carried out at CEH Wallingford. The data were collected to help understand soil functional change in a variety of management and climatic scenarios as part of NERC U-GRASS (Understanding and enhancing soil ecosystem services and resilience in UK grass and croplands) award (NERC Reference NE/M017125/1) part of the NERC Soil Security Programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/15026591-f803-4b18-a359-cd69ea0e6069