Data are presented of tensiometer measurements as centimetres of water from a field experiment in the Conwy catchment. The data were collected between October 2013 and January 2015 using tensiometers inserted into boreholes. The data were collected by trained members of staff from Bangor University and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The samples were taken to provide supporting information for assessing the relationship between soil microbial populations and soil moisture status. The data were collected for the NERC project 'The Multi-Scale Response of Water quality, Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration to Coupled Macronutrient Cycling from Source to Sea' (NE/J011991/1). The project is also referred to as Turf2Surf.