Data comprise measurements of plant biomass and community composition, soil microbial community composition, greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon and nitrogen pools from a drought experiment superimposed on a the long-term Colt Park grassland restoration experiment in northern England. Rainfall was manipulated using rain-out shelters on experimental grassland plots where fertiliser application and seed addition have been managed to enhance plant species diversity. The scientific purpose was to test the hypothesis that management aimed at biodiversity restoration increases the resistance and recovery of carbon cycling to short-term summer drought. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/8a41b2a2-01d7-409e-adf5-fba3f3770f29
